Desperate Decisions
by LoneWolf1968
Summary: I've seen several Star Trek/Stargate crossovers so I decided to do one with a bit of a twist. With the theory being that there are an infinite number of realities, wouldn't it make sense that there was an equivalent Jack O'Neill in the Star Trek Universe?
1. Chapter 1

**I'm doing a slight re-write of the story as I have had several complaints about the spacing. I understand the spacing and have tried to correct it. I had not seen the way FanFic changes the format and didn't realize it was so hard to read as it doesn't look that bad in word format. I do have a small rant about some of my critics. I have had several guests like the story but some have been downright rude in their criticism. If you don't have the balls to sign up for an account or allow replies in a PM, shut the hell up or sign up for an account, it's free. Again, this is not meant toward the guests that just say they like the story just the ones that want to complain but not have the balls to get a PM.**

**Desperate Decisions Part 1**

**Archeological dig on Dozaria III**

**_Luna_**** Class Explorer**

**USS ****_Triton_**

"Captains Log, Stardate 43254.7. USS _Triton_, Captain Jack O'Neill commanding. We are nearing the end of our five year mission and have nearly completed mapping the vast expanse beyond the Tholian Assembly and the Cardassian Union. Things have been quiet since the supernova destroyed Romulus and Remus. The Klingons expanded their territory deep into what used to be the Romulan Star Empire. Solidifying their hold on the newly annexed territory has kept them busy and off of everyone's radar for the moment."

"There has been no word from the Dominion since the war. With the reinforced fleet now at Bajor, we should have plenty of warning should they decide to try another push into the Alpha Quadrant. Bajor has officially joined the Federation and with assistance from other Federation worlds, the Bajorans have erased all evidence of the Cardassian Occupation other than memory and history."

"We have returned to Dozaria III to continue excavating and cataloging some interesting artifacts from a long dead civilization that Dr. Daniel Jackson began a couple of months ago. Dr. Jackson, our resident archeologist, has determined that most of the more interesting finds did not originate in this galaxy. How they came to be here and what their purpose was, we can only guess at."

"Daniel will be staying on to assist the full team of experts that the USS _Titan_ will be bringing in next week. Myself and the crew of the _Triton_, will be returning to Earth for a much needed rest and refit on key systems. Captain Riker assures me he will take care of Dr. Jackson and keep him out of trouble while his crew sets up the outpost and laboratory to further study the artifacts. I think tomorrow I'll beam down and see for myself some of the artifacts that Daniel has been telling me about."

Captain O'Neill sat back and rubbed his face with both hands before ending the log for the day. "Computer, end and save log."

Captain O'Neill got up and walked out of his ready room and onto the bridge. The turbolift doors opened to allow the night bridge officer onto the bridge as well. Lt. Commander Louis Ferretti walked through the doors and approached the command chair.

O'Neill wasn't on duty but he stopped to talk to Ferretti before heading to his quarters. "Another boring day in orbit huh Captain?"

Captain O'Neill nodded his head. "Yes, yes it was. But I like quiet and boring for now. The war was hell. I'm just glad we came through it in one piece. Well, have a good shift and I hope it's slow and boring for you."

The Captain said as he entered the turbolift to allow Ferretti and his Executive Officer, Commander Charles Kawalsky to do their shift hand over.

Once Jack made it to his quarters, it didn't take him long to fall asleep. He had told Ferretti he liked the quiet and boring days. In reality they were wearing him out and he was longing for some action of some kind. He had never been one for sitting around and doing nothing which is why he had decided to beam down to the planet and see what Dr. Jackson was doing.

The next morning after a hard workout on the holodeck and breakfast, Captain O'Neill beamed down to the dig site. He had called Dr. Jackson before leaving the ship so Daniel was waiting for him at the beam down site.

"Well hello Jack, what do I owe this visit to?" Jack smiled "I was bored Daniel and wanted to see what cool toys you might have found." Daniel frowned a bit. "Nothing cool yet, at least not what you would think is cool, here I'll show you."

He said as he walked toward a table with several different artifacts lying on it. "Most of what we have found so far appears to have been subjected to a massive explosion of some kind. This for example," he pointed at a large piece of rock with a carved symbol on it,

"Is made of an element that has never been recorded anywhere that we know of in the galaxy. There are several other similar pieces that may have formed a large ring about five meters in diameter but not all have been found yet." He moved down to another table.

"This table contains several smooth stones that seem to be nothing more than pretty paper weights. Most of them have large chips out of them or are broken in half completely. They do seem to emit a very low subspace signature but we aren't quite sure what they do."

Jack picked up one that was completely smooth and rolled it in his hand. It felt like a polished stone as he rubbed his thumb across the surface gently. "You said it emits a very low type of subspace energy. Is it dangerous?" Daniel shook his head confidently.

"No sir, they are not harmful in any way that we can find." Jack shrugged when he heard that. "Mind if I take it back to my ready room? I think it would look cool on my desk." Daniel just shrugged. "I don't think it would hurt anything. That seems to be about the only one not damaged other than these two." He pointed to the other two undamaged stones.

Jack thanked Daniel and beamed back to the ship. He activated the captain's log and placed the smooth stone on the right front of his desk. The rest of the week went by just as uneventful as the last week had. Daniel had found more artifacts that could not be explained. They seemed to have built by a highly advanced race.

Daniel had a theory that it might have been an outpost of the race the Federation knew as the Preservers but nothing had been proven yet. The only thing of consequence during the week was Jack had been having some very weird dreams.

Sometimes they showed what looked like a large, heavily secured base deep under a mountain. In others he saw a large ring like Daniel had described with glowing symbols on it. Sometimes he saw what looked like the surface of water inside the ring.

The dreams seemed so real to Jack that they seemed like he was in the dream doing all these things personally. One dream had a funny looking little man that kept calling O'Neill young? It also had a floating city with what looked like a giant dragonfly buzzing close to it. Another dream has Jack falling for a beautiful woman that hugs him and causes a weird looking cut to appear on his stomach. The dreams disturb him so bad he actually finds himself heading to the ship counselor's office one morning after a particularly bad one. He had woken up screaming and looking at his chest.

In the dream he was seeing himself as a leader of a team in a secret government project that some crazy Senator had shut down. While Congress (or at least the committee that knew of its existence) was debating on the program, a large ship of some kind attacked Earth.

There were two of them actually and they looked like huge golden pyramids with some type of lattice work around their base. One of the bad parts of the dream and the part that really bothered him was there were no starships or orbital defenses to fight off the invading ships.

The few defenders he did see in the dream were using old style percussion weapons or missiles. The fighter planes that tried to defend Earth were old aerial jets using projectile cannons and missiles. The attacking fighters destroyed them easily with a type of energy cannon.

It was like something out of an old holonovel about an alien invasion in the 20th century or something. The worst part of all was the reason he woke himself screaming. He had been crouched down behind a makeshift barricade firing at men in metal armor that were shooting back at him with what looked like a staff.

Carter had already been hit with one of the blasts and was lying on the floor with her eyes closed. He didn't know if she was alive or dead but the burnt flesh on her side didn't look good. Some large, heavily muscled man with a gold symbol on his forehead was crouched beside him shooting a staff weapon back at the armored attackers.

The part that had Jack looking at his chest was when one of the armored attackers appeared in an adjacent hallway and shot O'Neill at an oblique angle directly in the chest. The last thing he saw before he woke himself screaming was the large man looking over his shoulder as he retreated from the now untenable position.

"Captain, this is an unusual pleasure. It's not every day that I get a visit from you." The counselor stated as Captain O'Neill walked through the door of her office.

"Well Counselor, I wasn't going to bother you but I've been having some very disturbing dreams lately. Last night was the worst so far. I saw myself defending against some alien invasion on Earth. I didn't do so well either. The last thing I saw before I woke myself screaming was me getting blasted in the chest with some sort of energy weapon. The weird thing about it was I could actually feel the burning from the blast and I thought I could smell a faint odor of charred flesh."

The ship's counselor pushed a small button on her desk that locked her door and showed a sign above the door that said do not disturb. "Captain, start from the beginning and tell me everything."

So Jack started from the time he beamed down to check on the dig site until the moment he walked through her door.

"That is a bit strange. I have plenty of patients that have dreams but none that are as vivid and life like as yours. You said the dreams didn't start until after you came back from the dig. Do you think you were affected by being around the ruins of a long dead civilization?"

Jack thought about that for a bit. "I don't think so. It's not the first time I've stood in the ruins of some long dead and forgotten race." The counselor sat quiet for a minute.

"But it is the first time you've brought an artifact back from one of those long dead races. You did say Daniel told you it was emitting a low subspace signal. You might want to have Lieutenant Carter take a look at that stone, just to be safe. In the meantime I can prescribe a neural inhibitor that will suppress your dreams for awhile and see how you feel in a week or so if you like."

O'Neill thought about it too for a bit. "Yeah Doc, I think you're right about the stone, I'll get Carter on it immediately. The neural inhibiter will be nice as well. I need to get some sleep and hopefully straighten out before we get back to Earth."

Jack left the counselor's office as soon as she handed him the neural inhibiters and headed to his ready room. Once he reached there, he picked up the stone and tapped his combadge. "Captain O'Neill to Lieutenant Carter, report to my ready room please." He heard a click and then Carter's voice, "On my way Captain."Carter said before the comline went silent.

When Carter arrived he explained the situation and what he wanted her to do. After a week of scans and tests, Lt. Carter asked the Captain to meet her in the Astrometrics lab.

Sam greeted him as the doors to the Astrometrics lab opened with a slight swoosh. "Hello Captain, I think I've discovered what happened with the stone and why you started having those dreams. I had to go back through the ships sensor logs from the time you first touched it until the time you went to the Counselor."

O'Neill kept quiet as she continued to explain her findings. "The day you picked up the stone, the ships sensors registered a slight increase in subspace energy." She pointed to the screen in the front of the lab.

"As you can see, it was literally a subspace beam aimed directly at Earth. The strange thing is, it didn't reach Earth." She tapped a control on the interface in front of her that zoomed in at the point the beam disappeared.

"Right here, it completely disappears. But if you remember your quantum physics studies in the Academy, that is physically impossible so I ran a couple of different tests. From what I have found, it didn't disappear; it cut through the dimensional barrier and passed into a completely different universe."

Jack's jaw dropped and it took him a minute or so to recover. "Are you telling me that I was dreaming what was happening to another me in another universe?" He asked still a bit dumbstruck. "That's exactly what I'm saying Sir." She let this sink in before finishing.

"Since you said you saw him, "yourself", being shot and dying, I looked a little deeper. The day you went to see the counselor, the subspace connection for lack of a better word was severed. The stone has some small residual trace of the subspace link but that's all."

She tapped in a couple of more commands on the console and the screen changed. "Here are the current sensor readings around the ship. The link you saw on the previous image is gone. I don't think you will be having any more dreams. Well at least not like the ones you have been having."

O'Neill sat quietly for a few moments. "So if the link is severed, does that mean the other me is dead?" Carter nodded slightly. "I'm sorry, but I believe so Sir." Jack sighed slightly. "Ok Lieutenant, thank you for helping me figure this out. Please send me a complete copy of your entire investigation. Starfleet Command will want to look into this further I'm sure."

Carter was right again he thought as he headed toward the turbolift. Captain O'Neill had stopped taking the neural inhibiters and had experienced no more dreams. He would move on with his life and try not to let it bother him too much.

The turbolift doors opened to allow him onto the bridge. Kawalsky started to get up from the Command Chair. O'Neill held his hand up to motion his second in command to stay seated. "That's alright Charlie. I have a report to send off to Starfleet. I'll be in my ready room if you need me."

Once he sat down at his desk he pulled up the report Carter had compiled for him. He added his own insights and thoughts then sent the entire report to Starfleet Command in a priority one message. He just had a nasty feeling something was wrong and he had always listened to his gut feelings.

Six months later and Captain O'Neill was beginning to think he was just getting old and paranoid. He still had that gut feeling that something wasn't right but nothing had happened at all in the last six months.

Daniel had returned to the Triton after he had finished his part of the dig on Dozaria III. Jack had sent Daniel a copy of Sam's report and Dr. Jackson had confirmed that all the artifacts of interest had a quantum signature not of their universe. Little did Captain O'Neill realize that things were much worse than he could ever imagine.

**Stargate Universe**

**Six months after Apophis has conquered Earth**

Ba'al had made a deal with Apophis to trade for an artifact found in Area 51 on Earth. Apophis had no scientific interest in most of the things he acquired during the conquest. He felt Earth artifacts were insignificant if he had only needed two Ha'tak Motherships to completely subjugate the entire planet.

He really thought Ba'al was an idiot to trade a year's worth of Naquadah from his highest producing mines for a silly mirror. But then again, among the male hosts of the Goa'uld, Ba'al was probably the most vain.

What had enraged Apophis the most about the entire attack was that he had failed to capture the Shol'va (traitor) Teal'c. Teal'c had escaped in a stolen cargo ship along with Bra'tac who had also turned Shol'va.

Ba'al had been studying what he knew to be a Quantum Mirror. He had seen references to its function in the databanks of one of the worlds he had helped conquer. The System Lords were always fighting amongst each other for power and prestige but every now and then, they would join forces to deal with a threat that was too large for any one System Lord to defeat.

After the war, Ba'al had scoured the ruins in search of anything he could use to his advantage against the other System Lords. Ba'al was just as arrogant as the other System Lords, he just considered himself to be much smarter than any of them.

The humans they had fought on the planet he found the data were relatively advanced compared even to the humans of Earth. They had developed Starships that had given Kali all she could handle alone so she had called for the System Lords to unite and assist her in putting them down.

The destruction of their world and colonies had been so complete, it had take Ba'al months of searching to find anything useful. The references to the Quantum Mirror were useless until he heard through some of his spies that Apophis had found one when he conquered Earth.

Now Ba'al had the mirror in his position and he planned to use it to become the Supreme System Lord as Ra had been.

Ba'al was cycling through different views in the mirror with the control device when he noticed a strange looking being staring at him intently. He moved closer to better see this very strange looking creature. It was humanoid, average height, pasty white skin, black hair, deep Blue eyes, and some strange looking ridges that ran up from the chin to the ears on each side of his face.

The being turned toward someone Ba'al could not see to the side of the mirror, another being stepped in front of the mirror carrying some type of rifle. The second being was also pasty white with spikes all over his face.

There was some kind of tube running from his chest to the side of his neck, this being stepped toward the mirror. Ba'al never took his eyes off of the advancing Soldier. "Jaffa, Kree."

Four Jaffa that were standing to either side of the doorway turned toward the mirror with their staff weapons leveled at the mirror. The instant the spike faced Soldier stepped through the mirror and into the room, four staff blasts slammed into his chest, killing him instantly.

Ba'al smiled at the other being looking through the mirror in utter shock. "Jaffa, Kree Tal shak!" Three of the four Jaffa jumped through the mirror and took the startled being on the other side prisoner.

Ba'al smiled in satisfaction before turning to a table at his side and picking up a container with a cloned Goa'uld symbiont of himself floating inside. He then gave the remaining Jaffa orders to bring more Jaffa to the lab before stepping through the mirror.

**Star Trek Universe**

**Research Lab in Dominion Space**

One of the three Jaffa held the pale man down while the other two guarded the door. The little man was whining about someone called the Founders and how they were going to make him regret ever invading their territory.

Ba'al smiled before replying. **"I don't think so my pale friend. Once you are properly introduced to my friend here, I think you will be singing a different tune as the people of the Tauri used to say."** With that he opened the container to allow the symbiont out.

The snake like creature jumped out of the container and dove into the mouth of the pale little man.** "Normally we enter through the back of the neck but I don't want any visual scars that might give away our presence before I am ready."**

The pale man screamed as the symbiont tore through the lining at the back of his throat and began integrating itself into his spinal column and brain stem.

A short time later the pale man's eyes flashed yellow and he relaxed. **"Release me Jaffa."**

Once the Jaffa released the now Ba'al controlled Weyoun, he stood up and brushed himself off and turns to the other Ba'al.

**"Well Brother, this is an interesting development. This species is called Vorta and that**," he points to the dead spike faced Soldier, **"is what is called a Jem'Hadar. It seems both species are genetically designed and cloned by a race called Founders. We won't be able to take the Founders as hosts as they are shape shifters and their natural state is a sort of liquid. They will have to be destroyed for our plan to succeed. This is a most opportune development. Their technology is far superior to that of the Goa'uld except their means of star travel. It seems to be much slower than our hyperdrive. We won't need more Jaffa, the Jem'Hadar are basically their version of Jaffa. They will follow my orders to the letter and will never know that Weyoun no longer has control. Go back home Brother, I have work to do." **

Over the next few months, Ba'al/Weyoun worked to progress his goals of destroying the Founders and acquiring the technology to become the Supreme System Lord. He had cloned hundreds of Ba'al symbionts and implanted them in Vorta and Jem'Hadar alike. He had traveled to the original homeworld of the Founders to search through the ruins of the destroyed Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar ships.

He had recovered enough pieces from the wreckage to build a working cloaking device that was much more efficient than the cloaks the Goa'uld used. It didn't take him long to begin building and modifying Dominion warships with the cloaking device.

He then began building hyperspace engines for the same ships. Soon, not even the vaunted Asgard would be able to stop him. He would discover a way to take whole fleets back to his universe.

He would first subjugate the Goa'uld, and then turn his attention to the cursed Asgard. But he had to solidify his hold on this universe before anything else. Ba'al/Weyoun turned toward the First of the Jem'Hadar running his ship.

"First, plot a course for Romulan space, drop out of hyperspace at the edge of their system, cloak the ship and proceed at warp. They have something the Founders think they should not have. It is our mission to take it from them and make sure they are never able to produce it again."

First bowed low and crossed his closed fist across his chest. "Yes Weyoun. It is my honor to serve the Founders. With that, the Jem'Hadar Battleship turned and opened a window into hyperspace.

Ba'al/Weyoun had pieced together enough data from several Tal Shiar ships to know they were working on something called Red Matter. It was a VERY volatile substance that he just had to control.

The Romulan defenses around their most secret facility didn't stand a chance when a massive Jem'Hadar Battleship seemed to appear out of nowhere and launch an attack with its Phased Polaron Cannons.

The beams sliced through the Romulan ships like their shields weren't even there. Soon the research facility was crawling with Jem'Hadar Soldiers. First and his squad found the Red Matter storage vault as instructed.

They had a specially modified gravity sled to haul the container out to an awaiting shuttle. They loaded the Red Matter and within minutes of the attack, the Battleship turned back toward Dominion space and entered hyperspace.

Ba'al/Weyoun's first target was the Founders new homeworld. He lured the guarding fleet into leaving the system at warp (he hadn't modified those ships yet) with a false sensor contact showing multiple Federation and Klingon fleets about to attack the system. There was no one left to beam the Founders to safety when the Red Matter was launched into the sun.

The subspace shockwave from the collapsing star hit the Founders Homeworld in less than fifteen minutes from the time the Supernova occurred. He would claim the Federation and Klingons destroyed the fleet and the founders while being destroyed by the supernova they created and underestimated.

It was the perfect plan to further his plans of dominating this galaxy as well as his own. What he didn't count on was missing the warp trail of another cloaked ship that had been tracking the abnormal sensor readings from the Red Matter.

Captain Benjamin Sisko sat in the command chair of the USS _Defiant_ trying to figure out what the hell Weyoun was up to. The Defiant was cloaked and had been tracking the Red Matter since the Jem'Hadar Battleship had torn open the very fabric of space and emerged seemingly from nowhere. Commander Jadzia Dax was wrinkling her nose in a way that Sisko could tell she was confused. "What's wrong Old Man? You look confused about something."

The lovely young woman looked up at her old friend. "I guess you could say I am Benjamin. I'm getting readings telling me that Weyoun is carrying a Symbiont but it definitely isn't a Trill Symbiont. I can't make heads or tails as to what it actually is."

Captain Sisko got up and walked over to her console. "Show me." Was all he said. As Dax started to bring up her sensor readings she got a frightened look on her face. "Oh hell, Benjamin, the Battleship just launched something into the sun then jumped to warp."

Sisko turned and looked toward the main viewscreen where he could see the star begin to collapse. "Helm, get us out of here, maximum warp. Dax, you record everything you can on that supernova." He barely made it back to the command chair before the lithe little ship spun on its side and jumped to warp just in time to escape the subspace shockwave that destroyed everything else in the system.

Captain Sisko had Dax compile all of her sensor readings then added his thoughts to the report before sending it off to Starfleet Command. He was extremely disturbed by what he had witnessed and deeply afraid the Federation would soon be under attack. The _Defiant_ was nearing the entrance to the wormhole when Dax looked up.

"Captain, we are receiving a priority one message from Starfleet Command." Captain Sisko stood up. "I'll take it in the ready Room. Dax you have the Bridge."

He entered the Ready Room and took a seat at his desk. As the message was routed to his console he set back a bit in surprise as Admiral Janeway's face appeared on the screen. "Hello Admiral, what can I do for you?"

He could tell by the look of the Admiral's face that he wasn't going to like the answer to that question.

"Ben. I need you to find that Battleship and scan it as close as you can. I have sent you an encrypted file for your eyes only. The only thing you are allowed to tell any of your crew is the Quantum Resonance Frequency we need you to scan for. Do not, I repeat do not attempt to engage the ship in any way. If you locate that frequency, you are to send a databurst back to us with all of the scans you have then delete the record of them from your databanks."

As Captain Sisko tried to protest, Admiral Janeway cut him off. "I know you don't like it Ben, but we have no choice. If our suspicions are correct, this involves the security of not only the Federation but the entire galaxy. You have your orders, Janeway out."

Ben Sisko rubbed his face with both hands before downloading the frequency into the computer. He then took a deep breath and made his way back onto the Bridge. "Dax, can you locate that Battleship and track it still?" Dax looked up. "Yes I can Benjamin; as long as they continue to carry the Red Matter I can track them from across the quadrant."

Sisko sat down in the command chair with a deep sigh. "You'll find a Quantum Resonance Frequency that I just loaded to the computer. We need to get close enough to scan for that frequency and if we find it we are to immediately send a databurst of the entire sensor log back to Starfleet Command." With that, the chase was on.

It took the crew of the _Defiant_ almost a week to finally catch up to the Battleship they had been tracking. They would be closing in on it and then it would just disappear and not long afterward, would appear again at an impossible distance.

Dax had been able to get some long range scans of the ship but could not detect the frequency they were looking for at that distance. She was able to determine something else though. "Benjamin, I think you need to take a look at this."

Captain Sisko walked up to see the screen she was indicating. "What have you found Dax?" She pulled up sensor readings from the first encounter with the Battleship. "Do you remember the way the ship just seemed to emerge from a tear in space?"

She asked as she looked at her oldest living friend. "Yes, it was like it just tore a hole in space and flew through it." He stated. "Well I think that's exactly what it did. Years ago, Trill and Vulcan scientists toyed with the idea of a different type of Faster Than Light travel to replace warp drive. They called it hyperspace travel. But they were never able to get it to work. I think Weyoun has figured out what the brightest minds of two ancient races could not."

She let the ramifications of that sink in. "Captain, if he has perfected hyperspace travel, there isn't a race in this galaxy that can counter it."

Ba'al/Weyoun had been working to solidify his control of the forces of the Dominion. He had spread the word of the combined "Federation and Klingon" attack that had destroyed the Founders and the fleet guarding them.

His plan was almost finished. He had ordered two Jem'Hadar attack ships be refitted with cloaking devices and hyperspace engines. He had installed a launch tube that would launch the newly finished micro-torpedo. The new torpedo had a special containment chamber designed to hold Red Matter and release it upon entering a star or planetary crust.

The two attack ships had just jumped into hyperspace when he noticed something odd on his sensor interface. When he focused the full sensor array of the Battleship (which included special tachyon sensors) he realized he was looking at a cloaked ship. He refined the sensitivity until he could see it was his (Weyoun's) old friend Benjamin Sisko. He laughed as he activated his companel.

"Oh Benjamin, I can see you. Now why would you be skulking around in Dominion Space spying on me?" He waited for a minute to see if he would receive and response. "Oh come now Captain. Don't be rude, you know the Dominion has always been able to see through your cloaking device. I have refined the sensors even more. He looked over to his Jem'Hadar First.

"Fire two torpedoes on either side of the _Defiant_ and the main cannons on the other two sides." The First growled and challenged the Vorta. "Why do you want me to waste energy? Why not simply destroy them?"

Ba'al/Weyoun turned hard and cold. "Where would be the fun it that?" And shot the First in the face with a Polaron pistol. "Second," he yelled to the Jem'Hadar Second, "you are now First. Do not make the mistakes your predecessor did and question my orders."

The newly promoted First bowed deeply at the waist and crossed his fist on his chest. "Yes Weyoun, I understand." First then turned and fired the torpedoes and main cannons as he was ordered. As the Polaron weapons passed on all sides of the ship, Captain Sisko jumped into action.

"Launch stealth probes, send the databurst, drop the cloak, raise shields, and power weapons. We need to keep that Battleship occupied long enough for one of the probes to make it out of the system and transmit the databurst. He's jamming our transmissions from here just like I thought he would. Dax, are we close enough to scan for that frequency?"

Dax's hands flew over her console complying with her Captains orders. "Yes Benjamin. The frequency is a match, downloading all sensor data into the probes, launching probes and decoys."

The small but powerful warship decloaked and prepared for battle. Once all the probes were away, Sisko gave the attack order. "Attack pattern Omega 3, let's see how much time we can buy those probes." With that order the Defiant shot forward and rolled hard to the port side and under the Battleship firing quantum torpedoes and pulse cannon as fast as it could.

Ba'al/Weyoun shook his head sadly. "Ah Benjamin, you disappoint me. You are no match for this ship even before I added the modifications. Destroy him First."

First obeyed his orders and opened fire with the newer weapons on the Battleship. The newly installed plasma cannon opened fire with terrifying power slamming into the much smaller warship and swatting it across space like a fly.

Inside the _Defiant_ consoles exploded, sparks, and bodies flew around the bridge. "Shields down to twelve percent, warp engines offline, impulse engines offline, phasers offline, hell the only thing left are the torpedo tubes and guidance thrusters!"

Chief O'Brien yelled over the sound of battle. Sisko didn't hesitate. "Evasive pattern Epsilon 5, fire all torpedoes! We have to buy more time!" The battered starship continued to spew torpedoes as fast as the tubes would reload. It danced across the stars like a wild bronco on guidance thrusters trying to avoid the deadly touch of the Battleships weapons.

Just as the Battleships shields began to fail, a spread of Polaron torpedoes shot out of the launch tubes of the Battleship and struck the Defiant on its already weakened shields. The tough little warship couldn't take any more and exploded in a bright fireball as one of the torpedoes breached the warp core. But the brave crew had done their jobs. One probe managed to get outside the jamming field and transmit the databurst to Starfleet Command.

Three days later, every ship Starfleet and the Klingon Empire could rally were in orbit around their respective homeworlds. They were hoping to be able to stop the attack ships before they could launch their deadly cargo. It was to no avail.

Their fleets were able to destroy the ships but not before they launched their modified, warp capable torpedoes. Neither fleet had fully understood the capability of hyperspace travel. So neither fleet was prepared to stop a ship exiting hyperspace almost in the star's corona. The only thing the amassed fleets could do was beam as many people as they could handle onto the ships then jump to warp before both the Sol and Qo'noS stars went supernova.

The Federation and the mighty Klingon Empire were no more. Sure there were survivors, but they were a broken people now, at least for the most part. There were those that the destruction of their home systems just enraged. One such person was Captain Jack O'Neill.

The _Triton_ had been in Earth orbit when the attack came. As it turned out, the _Triton_ had been the closest to the exit point of the Jem'Hadar attack ship. Even as fast as Jack had ordered the firing of all weapons that could lock onto the ship, it wasn't fast enough.

He had been totally shocked by the ship coming in that close to the sun. Because of the gravity well of the sun, a ship equipped with warpdrive could have never pulled off a successful attack. But the Jem'Hadar fighter had not been equipped with a warpdrive and it had succeeded in destroying Sol, just as its twin had succeeded in destroying the Qo'noS sun.

Over the course of the next two weeks, several more attacks by Jem'Hadar attack ships had been carried out. Cardassia Prime was destroyed by a Red Matter torpedo, as were the Breen homeworld, Vulcan, Andoria, and the Tholian homeworld. Any major world that might serve as a rallying point for the Alpha and Beta quadrant was destroyed. Even deep into the Delta quadrant, the hyperspace equipped ships struck.

The mighty Borg didn't even stand a chance against the power of a supernova. Within weeks the galaxy as a whole was defeated. There had been minor losses of clones, but what were the lives of a few clones to True Godhood? He could always clone more if needed.

All that remained now was for Ba'al/Weyoun to assert control and establish his Godhood. He had implanted his clones in as many scientists as he could to work on a way to transfer fleets to his home universe.

There were some promising theories but no solid breakthroughs as of yet. Ba'al/Weyoun knew it was just a matter of time before he discovered a way. After all, was he not the most brilliant Goa'uld to ever live? Not only that but was he not a God? He had faith the way would be discovered soon and he would become the rightful ruler of two galaxies.

**USS ****_Triton_**

**Just inside the former Romulan/Federation Neutral Zone**

"Captains Log, Stardate 43354.5. USS _Triton_, Captain Jack O'Neill commanding. It's been several weeks since the Dominion launched its surprise attack on Earth. Jem'Hadar warships have been hunting through the quadrant and destroying anyone unlucky enough to be detected by them.

The Triton has been lucky and has managed to avoid anything larger than an attack ship. We've sustained heavy damage but have managed to stay alive for the moment. We have managed to make it to the Bassen Rift hoping that the subspace instability caused by the thalaron explosion of Shinzon's ship would help hide us from the Dominion.

We have been conducting as many repairs as we can in hopes of surviving long enough for a counter to the Dominion can be found. I have never felt so helpless in all of my life. Not even facing the Borg has caused a feeling as bad and hopeless as now. Computer, save and end log."

Just then the intercom chirped. "Captain O'Neill to the bridge, repeat, Captain O'Neill to the bridge." Jack frowned hoping they hadn't been discovered and stood up from his desk. He walked onto bridge to see what Carter had called him for.

"What's up Lieutenant?" He said as he neared her station. "Well Sir, I'm not really sure. I was running a diagnostic on the sensors after we repaired them and found this." She pointed to what looked like a jumble of wavy lines and static.

He looked at it for a second before it hit him that it was a repeating pattern. "Is that what I think it is Carter?" Carter pressed her lips together. "I think it is Sir. I think it's a signal from someone, I just don't know from whom or what it says yet. I just wanted a second opinion to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me after all these hours of repair."

O'Neill looked at the pattern on the screen for a bit longer. "When's the last time you slept Lieutenant?" Carter sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I honestly can't remember when the last time I slept was Sir. With all the running, fighting, and repairs, I really haven't had a chance to."

Jack placed his hand on his chief engineer's shoulder. "Carter, get that message or whatever it is deciphered and then get some sleep. No wait, strike that. Get some sleep NOW and then work on deciphering it."

When Lieutenant Carter didn't move, he got a little more forceful. "That means right now Lieutenant, that's an order." He watched as Carter's shoulders sagged in acceptance. "Yes Sir, right now Sir." The Captain decided to take his own advice as he had no clue when the last time he had slept either. So he turned over the bridge to the duty officer and retired to his quarters.

The next morning Carter was up early after a much needed nights rest. She had only been working on the message for a few minutes before she had it deciphered and called the captain. Once the captain arrived in the science lab she explained.

"Thanks for ordering me to get some sleep Sir. I didn't realize how bad I was sleep deprived or how bad it was affecting my mind. It only took a few minutes to decipher the message this morning."

She pointed to the screen before continuing. "It's Starfleet encryption but it is in a language that hasn't been spoken on Earth much in nearly 500 years. Remember Starfleet history at the Academy, the "Code Talkers" during WWII? The message is in Navajo. It only says one thing, Vodrey Nebula." Jack looked up and headed to Astrometrics with Carter right on his tail.

They entered Astrometrics and Carter immediately pulled up a star map of the sector of space that the Vodrey Nebula was in. Captain O'Neill looked back at Carter. "That's on the border of Klingon/Federation space. Why would get only that phrase? You're sure there was nothing else in that message?" Carter shook her head.

"That's all that the message states. It repeats it three times, pauses for 15 seconds then repeats it again three times. It does this every 15 seconds. I checked the message three different times to make sure I hadn't missed something." Jack accepted the explanation and headed to the bridge.

As soon as the turbolift doors opened onto the bridge Captain O'Neill began issuing orders. "Helm, bring us out of the Rift and set a course for the Vodrey Nebula, maximum warp. Tactical, stay on the weapons and keep them in stand-by. I want to be able to fire the instant anything out of the ordinary is detected. Coms use the file Carter uploaded into the computer to encrypt and send one word to the Nebula. One word and one word only. That word is "Understood"."

Within seconds the word was translated into Navajo, encrypted, and sent. Captain O'Neill sat in the command chair with his elbow on one arm and his chin resting on a closed fist. "Now we wait."

As the USS _Triton_ neared the Nebula a single _Negh'Var_ warship decloaked in their path. "Halt! State your business or be destroyed." The Klingon warrior on screen said.

"Captain O'Neill recognized the warrior immediately and would have even had he not seen the face. "Qaleghqa'mo' jIQuch Chancellor Martok. We come in answer to the signal."

The Chancellor laughed deeply. "Ah it is good to see you again too my friend. I knew if anyone was able to survive the treachery of the cowardly Dominion it would be you. Follow the _Sword of Kahless_ closely. Do not stray as there are cloaked anti matter mines laid throughout the nebula."

With that Chancellor Martok cut communications and the Klingon flagship spun on its axis and proceeded into the nebula.

The helmsman of the _Triton_ skillfully kept the ship on the exact course that the _Sword of Kahless_ followed. The forward viewscreen showed the impulse engines of the Klingon ship close up.

The _Triton_ was close enough to see the vectoring thrusters fire to keep the massive Klingon warship snaking through the cloaked minefield. After an hour and a half of following the _Negh'Var_ through the maze, the _Triton_ emerged into an opening near the center of the Nebula.

The view brought a surprised gasp from everyone on the bridge as a massive spacedock and starbase came into view. The area around the starbase was swarming with dozens of Klingon and Federation ships of all designs. Here you saw a Klingon _Vor'cha_ Battlecruiser.

Over there you saw a small formation of _Saber_ Class Scout ships. Over in the other direction you could see a cluster of _Norway_ and _Intrepid_ Cruisers.

But the most impressive sight was the enormous starship in the spacedock. It was easily over a thousand meters long. The ship was also bristling with phaser arrays and torpedo turrets. The name across the saucer section read USS _Ascension_. The registry number was NX-89347. It was the largest ship that Starfleet had ever built and it was sitting right in front of them in all its majesty.

The _Sword of Kahless_ turned and headed back out of the nebula to resume its position guarding the only clear entrance to the hidden base. What the crew of the _Triton_ didn't notice or know about was the other ships also guarding alongside the Klingon flagship.

There were more than one-hundred cloaked ships ranging from dozens of _B'rel_ Bird of Preys, to dozens of _Vor'cha_ Battlecruisers and _Negh'Var_ class Battleships. All of which were using a newly modified cloak that they hoped the Jem'Hadar could not detect.

The com Officer on the _Triton_ looked up at Captain O'Neill. "Captain, we're being hailed. It's Admiral Janeway." O'Neill nodded in acknowledgement. "Put it on screen." When the Admiral's face appeared on the main viewscreen she began to speak.

"Captain O'Neill. You're just the person I was hoping would still be alive out there someplace. We need your help and that of your crews to try to fix this mess we are in. I want you and your senior staff in the starbase conference room in thirty minutes. We don't know how much time we have left so don't be late, Janeway out."

The captain looked around at his senior staff a bit confused. "Ok, does that seem weird to anyone else? Why would they specifically want us? What about Captain Picard or Captain Sisko?" No one had much if an answer. Commander Kawalsky just shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess we'll find out in thirty minutes." The Triton received permission to dock in the starbase and as soon as she was docked, engineer crews flooded the ship and started much needed repairs.

Captain O'Neill and his senior staff were seated in the conference room within twenty minutes of docking. Captain Tuvok walked in the room with Admiral Janeway directly behind him.

"Room Attention!" Tuvok called as he stepped to the side to allow the Admiral in the room. Admiral Janeway made a dismissive gesture with her hand as she made her way to the center of the room and picked up a small remote from the table.

"As you were. This is a highly classified and vital briefing that could very well mean the continued survival of the Federation, her Allies, and the Klingon Empire or the extinction of all of them." She paused to point the remote at the screen.

"This is the Jem'Hadar that destroyed Qo'noS. The Klingon Defenders around Qo'noS were able to beam him off his ship and into a stasis chamber when the shields of the attack ship failed. He was carrying a symbiont in him that is not from this universe. It actually came from an alternate reality and is how the Jem'Hadar have obtained this new technology they used to conquer the entire galaxy."

She paused to let that sink in. "The Klingons used their mind sifter to interrogate the captive and learn from where and how he came to our reality." She clicked the remote again and several familiar items showed up on the screen.

"These are the artifacts you discovered on Dozaria III. They have the same Quantum Resonance Frequency as the symbiont carried by the Jem'Hadar. From the Klingon's interrogation we have learned exactly what they are." The projector clicked as she changed to the next image.

"These pieces used to form a large ring that was used for creating an artificial wormhole between another identical ring on another planet. They are composed of a mineral called Naquadah that is not found naturally in this universe. It can't be replicated either, we tried."

O'Neill took this opportunity to speak. "Let's cut to the chase Admiral. Where do we come in?" He asked as he indicated his staff. Admiral Janeway looked at the Captain in mild annoyance.

"Fine Captain, you're going to take that big beautiful ship out there, go to the Bepi 113 system, use the acceleration rings around that star, go back in time then using the portal generator installed on the ship, open a portal into the universe he came from, arm the humans there, and prevent this from ever happening in the first place."

The room was completely silent for what seemed like an eternity before O'Neill broke the silence. "Well, ok, sounds simple enough. When do we leave?"

Carter had to speak up. "Sir, are you serious? That violates nearly everything the Federation stands for. What happened to the Prime Directive? What happened to not interfering with a society's natural progression?" Before Jack could answer, Admiral Janeway jumped in.

"What the hell is wrong with you Lieutenant? Look around you. There IS NO Federation! Someone from another reality has come in and turned that perfect little world upside down! We didn't make this decision lightly I assure you. This will be done to ensure the survival of all of the people in this reality. Not just the Federation or the Klingons, but everyone." She glared at Carter before continuing.

"We didn't start this but we damn sure will be the ones that finish it. The Klingons wanted to be the ones to do this but there ARE no Klingons in that reality so it's up to us to get this done. Matter of fact there are no Orions, no Bolians, no Vulcans, or none of most of the races we have in this reality."

"So you will only take a human crew with the exception of a few Betazoids, Trill, and Bajorans. At least the Betazoids look human, the Trill can be passed off as tattooed as long as no one scans them, and the Bajorans can be explained as a product of their environment. If all goes as we hope it will, none of us will be here to remember this and all we be returned to the way it should be."

"Get your crew prepped Captain; you have one hour to board and prepare for the mission. Further orders and instructions will be uploaded onto your ships computer. Good luck and God's speed Captain, dismissed." With that the Admiral stood and left the room.

Forty five minutes later Captain O'Neill was sitting in the ready room of his new starship. He had just finished going through the inventory and instructions for the mission. The USS _Ascension_ was the largest ship Starfleet had ever produced. It was 1,400 meters long and used a unique three warpcore system. The first two warpcores were used for normal everyday operations while the third warpcore was kept in hot standby for use in a combat or emergency situation.

One cargo bay was filled with an industrial size replicator. Another cargo bay contained large computer storage banks and the dimensional projector. The gist of the mission was to take the Ascension back in time to about two years before the alien Symbiont acquired the dimensional mirror that brought him to their reality.

The original plan was to try to just send a small cloaked ship to beam the mirror up to stop Ba'al from using it. That plan was deemed to problematic as no one knew how many mirrors actually existed and relied on everything working out just right to work.

So it had been decided that Captain O'Neill would set up a ship yard and base in an isolated part of the alternate universe and start building ships to protect the Earth in that reality from invasion.

Since this was all taking place in an alternate reality, the _Ascension_ and all ships built there would be equipped with cloaking devices and the new hyperspace engines the Klingons had stolen from the symbionts mind with the mind sifter.

Before anyone had been allowed to begin boarding, each crew member was subjected to a complete scan to make sure no one had been taken as a host. Likewise the entire ship was scanned to make sure none had been able to stow away too. Captain O'Neill stood from his desk and walked onto the bridge. He took a seat in the command chair then opened up ship wide coms.

"This is the Captain, we are about to embark on a mission where the very fate of this galaxy depends on our success. An alien parasite has come to our reality with knowledge of advanced propulsion and weapons. They have subjugated the Vorta and Jem'Hadar, stolen dangerous technology, and conquered the galaxy through subterfuge and acts of unspeakable horror."

"Our mission is to use an experimental ship with experimental technology to go not only back in time, but back in time to a totally alternate reality. We will be going to the reality that this parasite originated from and stop him before he can come to our reality and cause the chaos which he has currently achieved."

"We are to build a shipyard and starbase in an isolated sector of that reality and help the Earth of that reality gain the level of technology which we currently enjoy. I know this goes against the very foundation of what the Federation stands for. But we have seen what will happen if we do nothing."

"The Federation and this entire galaxy cannot be allowed to be destroyed and conquered the way it has. Nor can we sit idly by while another galaxy is enslaved and our human brothers destroyed. We will right this wrong and repair reality to where it should be without the outside interference of a parasite. That is all, continue your duties and may God have mercy on our souls."

Jack took a breath and paused to reflect on what he had just told his crew. He looked toward the young Lieutenant Commander at the helm. "Take us out Mr. Paris, one quarter impulse until we clear spacedock then take us to half impulse." Lieutenant Commander Tom Paris echoed the command and the big ship eased gracefully out of spacedock.

As the _Ascension_ came near the exit out of the nebula, the remaining Starfleet ships that were equipped with hyperdrive engines took up escort positions around her. The ships that weren't equipped with the faster engine (and there were few) exploded in a massive fireball as their warpcores were set to overload. The starbase and everything around it vaporized as well.

Starfleet and the Klingons were throwing everything they had into this mission. If it succeeded, then none of this would ever happen. If it failed, then it was better to go out fighting then to live as slaves.

The crews from the starbase, spacedock, and non-hyperspace capable ships were divided among the remaining fleet. Three hundred and eighty-eight ships comprised the total sum of the remains of the once mighty Klingon Empire and Federation fleets.

The non-hyperspace capable Klingon ships had already warped to the Bepi 113 system under cloak. They were sitting in a defensive perimeter ready to protect the Ascension until it was able to utilize the acceleration network to travel back in time.

To avoid the same fate that had befallen many worlds and suns, hyperspace dampers had been set up outside the system that would prevent the modified Dominion ships from using hyperspace to destroy the sun in Bepi 113.

They would force any ship to drop out of hyperspace and utilize warp drive to enter the system. Ships traveling at warp were much easier to intercept than those traveling in hyperspace. Pulse phaser cannon turrets, photon torpedo turrets, disruptor turrets, and sensor arrays were set-up in layers in the empty void of space surrounding the system. Hopefully if Ba'al/Weyoun showed up, the fleet and the defensive turrets would be enough to buy the time the Ascension needed.

Chancellor Martok was in charge of the fleet already at Bepi 113. He was contemplating the situation they found themselves in when his tactical officer called for his attention.

"Chancellor, a large Jem'Hadar fleet has just been forced out of hyperspace and several of them are proceeding at warp. They will be here just minutes before the Ascension arrives." The Chancellor stood from his chair. "Give me fleet wide."

When his communications officer nodded at him he addressed the fleet. "Warriors of the Klingon Empire, the enemy is upon us and will arrive before our Federation Allies do. We will show these PetaQ what it means to fight a Klingon Warrior. Sto-vo-kor awaits! It is a good day to die! Attack!"

With that command, one-hundred and seventy-nine Klingon warships decloaked and charged the Dominion fleet. Disruptor blasts and photon torpedoes filled space with death and destruction. The larger Jem'Hadar ships tried to blast a hole in the defenses for the smaller attack ships to break through and destroy the sun with Red Matter torpedoes.

But the Klingon attack was ferocious and relentless. Every time a hole would open in their ranks, the fleet would shift and another ship would fill the empty void. Any attack ship that managed to make it through an opening in the lines, was set upon by squadrons of _B'rel_ Birds of Prey roaming in wolfpacks behind the main defensive line.

If any of the attack ships were lucky enough to survive the _B'rel's_ the multiple layers of defensive turrets finished them off before they could get close enough to launch their torpedoes. But the Klingons were slowly running out of ships to plug the holes with.

The _Sword of Kahless_ had taken a severe beating holding the line. The bridge was a mess of twisted beams, smoke and sparking consoles. Chancellor Martok was looking around ordering the firing of disruptors and photon torpedoes while also trying to direct the actions of his dwindling fleet. His tactical officer began yelling. "Main power offline! Disruptors and torpedo tubes offline! Shields failing!"

Martok looked around at the massive Jem'Hadar Battleship that was bearing down on his flagship. "Divert all power to the engines! Ramming speed! Set a course for that Battleship!"

As his helm was attempting to follow those orders, his tactical officer yelled out again. "Multiple contacts exiting hyperspace! It's the Ascension and her escorts! They are tearing into the back of the Dominion ships!" Martok looked at the flashing and sparking view screen.

"By Kahless that is a beautiful ship!" Even on the partially working viewscreen he could see the dozens upon dozens of torpedoes spewing out of the many torpedo turrets as the _Ascension_ surrounded by layers of protecting ships shot through the confused Dominion fleet and continued on into the system.

As the _Ascension_ broke free of the cloud of warships and into the clear, it accelerated again into warp leaving a wide path of destruction in its wake. The escorting fleet did not go to warp but broke away to continue delaying the Dominion fleet. If this mission was to succeed, they needed to give the _Ascension_ and her crew as much time as possible.

Ba'al/Weyoun saw the _Ascension_ accelerate into warp and immediately ordered his Battleship to pursue. As the Battleship veered away from the battle and attempted to go to warp in pursuit of the _Ascension_, the Klingon flagship flanked my two _Defiant_ class escorts cut in front of it.

The chief engineer on the _Sword of Kahless_ had managed to restore power to the forward disruptors and photon tubes. The Klingon ship came in throwing everything it had at the Jem'Hadar Battleship with the Federation warships adding their pulse cannon and quantum torpedoes to the attack. The shields of the Battleship held but only barely. It was enough to cause one of the warp nacelles to be knocked offline.

As the Klingon flagship and the two Federation escorts finished their strafing run and were coming around for another attack, the Dominion Battleship surged forward at full impulse. Ba'al/Weyoun ordered the Jem'Hadar gunners to open fire with everything they had to blast the way clear for them.

"First! If you don't get that warp nacelle back online soon, I'll be in need of a new First!" He yelled over the noise of the battle. The Battleship continued on toward the system on full impulse spewing phased polaron blasts, plasma bursts, and polaron torpedoes in all directions.

One of the escorts with the _Sword of Kahless_ was struck a direct blow from a phased polaron cannon and a plasma cannon at the same time. The shields buckled and collapsed and pieces of ablative armor vaporized while others were blown clean off.

The tough little warship shuddered violently and went dark. Ba'al/Weyoun didn't see the results as the Jem'Hadar First managed to get the warp nacelle back online and the Battleship jumped to warp.

The Dominion Battleship dropped out of warp just inside the orbit of the second planet. They immediately began scanning for the _Ascension_. Ba'al/Weyoun spotted the Federation Starship as it was accelerating around the sun, just passing through the third graviton accelerator.

"Open fire on that ship! I want it destroyed before it can accomplish whatever it is they are doing!" The Jem'Hadar gunners were trying to lock onto the fast moving ship. It was very hard to do as the ship was moving at impossible speeds thanks to the graviton accelerators. The Jem'Hadar First had taken over the phased polaron cannons and had just achieved a target lock on the Ascension.

"FOR STO-VO-KOR!" Blared through the speakers just as the _Sword of Kahless_ slammed into the Jem'Hadar Battleship at warp speed. The resulting collision turned both ships into an expanding fireball in time to illuminate the _Ascension_ as it passed though the last graviton accelerator and accelerated into the past.

**I was planning on doing the entire story before I posted it. But I've decided to post this first half and finish the ending as I have time. Hope y'all enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Near BP6-3Q1 (or Bepi 113 in Star Trek Reality)**

**This part of the story will begin right after the Season One SG-1 Episode "The Broca Divide". All episodes will happen roughly as they did in canon but I will not write the episode in the story. There may be references to episodes but that's all. And since the SGC and Earth will be getting advanced technology and "big honkin' space guns" then the content of some episodes even in passing will change. Hope you enjoy and be sure to critique if you want too.**

The USS _Ascension_ decelerated into normal space. The graviton accelerators were still present in the system causing minor confusion among the bridge crew. Captain O'Neill was the first one to speak. "Is there a malfunction in the systems or did we miscalculate the shift?"

Lieutenant Carter began running scans and checking the computer. "No Sir. We are definitely three years in the past. Starfleet must have had all of this built way before we needed to use it. Captain, I'm picking up a ship on long range sensors. It just dropped out of warp at the edge of the system. It's hailing us."

O'Neill looked up in surprise. "Don't say anything! Mr. Paris, engage the hyperdrive and get us out of here before we corrupt our time line. Set a course for Ilecom, engage." With that the ship turned toward the system the Captain had just named and tore a hole to hyperspace. "The instant we drop out of hyperspace be ready to cloak the ship until we can make sure the area is clear."

A few hours later the USS _Ascension_ dropped out of hyperspace well outside of any sensor range and then went to warp. There was something about the physics of hyperspace that wouldn't allow a cloaked ship to travel in hyperspace. But it didn't affect being able to cloak and travel at warp. Captain O'Neill ordered long range scans of the system they were approaching.

"Have you found anything yet Lieutenant?" He asked Lt. Carter as they drew near the system. "No Sir, nothing that would interfere with the dimensional projector. There is a pre-warp society in the early industrial stage on the 3rd planet but as long as we keep the sun between us and them, there shouldn't be any chance of them accidently spotting us."

O'Neill smiled. "Good, as soon as we are in position, open the dimensional rift and send a tethered probe through. I want to make sure the other side is clear before we take the ship through." Carter nodded and agreed that was a smart move.

An hour later they were getting readings back from the probe. "It's a dead world on the other side Sir. It looks like the star went nova centuries ago. We'll need to move further away from the star and open another rift if we want to enter their reality safely. The gravitational flux is playing havoc with the probe and window at this position."

O'Neill acknowledged the report. "Close this rift and move us back to safe distance. I think another 500,000 kilometers should do it don't you Carter?" Lieutenant Carter thought about it for a moment. "We better make it 750,000 just to be safe." O'Neill smiled again and thought _"It must be nice to have that kind of brain. _Alright, Mr. Paris, you heard the Lady, 750,000 kilometers it is."

The transition to the other reality went flawlessly and as soon as they were through, Captain O'Neill ordered the rift sealed and the ship moved outside of the system. He also had Carter scan the Quantum Resonance Frequency to make sure they were in the right place. This time travel and switching reality thing made him a bit nervous. "Ok Carter, since that sun has gone nova I suspect we can't use that system for our initial base as planned."

Carter nodded her head in agreement. "No Sir, the gravitational instability would wreak havoc with sensors, warp travel, and hyperspace travel. I'll get right on locating a suitable system that will suit our needs." O'Neill paused in thought for a moment.

"Ok, you do that Lieutenant. In the mean time, I'll take Charlie and one of the _Delta Flyers_ and see if we can make contact with our counterparts in this reality. Just keep me advised on where you decide to set up shop." Carter looked at him a little worried.

"Are you sure that both you and Kawalsky should go? Shouldn't you stay here and let Charlie and a security team make contact?" Jack shook his head. "No Lieutenant, I HAVE to be the one to go. It was me that was linked through that weird stone and I'm the only one that can explain that to them when we do make contact." Carter couldn't find anything to dispute about that line of thought.

"I guess you're right Sir, I just don't like the fact that you and your second in command will be gone from the ship at the same time." O'Neill got that mischievous look in his eye.

"What Lieutenant? Are you afraid Ferretti and you can't hold the ship together without me and Charlie around to watch over your shoulder?" Carter pursed her lips together and placed her fists on her hips before answering.

"You know good and well that has nothing to do with it Sir. It's just that there is a lot riding on the success of this mission and I just don't want anything to go wrong." Jack smiled at her in encouragement.

"I know Lieutenant, I was just teasing you. Look at it this way, if something does go wrong, I doubt there would be much either Charlie or I could do about it. If this mission is meant to succeed, it will. You just have to trust yourself and have a little faith."

Carter made a rude sound before voicing her thoughts. "I'd rather trust in what I know which is science and technology."

An hour later, Captain O'Neill and Commander Kawalsky were easing a _Delta Flyer II_ out of shuttle bay 1. The sleek little ship (this one had USS _Paris_ on the nose cone in honor of its designer) gracefully arced out of the shuttlebay, pointed its nose toward Earth, and jumped to warp.

The original _Delta Flyer_ was capable of being upgraded to a speed of warp 8.2 for a short time. The _Delta Flyer II_ could sustain a cruising speed of warp 8 indefinitely and an emergency speed of warp 9.5 for several hours.

They hadn't come up with a way to put hyperspace engines on the smaller ships like the Flyer or Runabouts. So they would have to rely on warpdrive on the smaller ships for now, which made it a four day trip to Earth at warp 8. So for this mission, Kawalsky was cruising at warp 8 under cloak.

A day and a half into the trip they received a subspace message from Lieutenant Carter. She had found an uninhabited planet that was perfect for their needs. The asteroid belt in the system was rich in duranium, tetraburnium, and naquadah.

The planet was an M class as Earth was but had a longer day than Earth did. It was nearly a 36 hour day compared to Earth's 24 hour cycle. Carter hadn't found any dilithium but had discovered another type of crystal that would work just as well.

There was also a large ring on the planet that matched the diameter and substance (that they now knew was naquadah) of the pieces they found on Dozaria and the ruins of a very old civilization.

Daniel Jackson was ecstatic about being able to study the ruins and the intact ring. Lieutenant Commander Ferretti had parked the _Ascension_ in orbit of that M class planet and now engineering crews were hard at work building the spacedock and starbase. He had also sent some of the worker bees to the outer edge of the system to begin construction of defensive turrets and sensor arrays.

While in route to Earth, Jack and Charlie had been placing cloaked subspace relay boosters at specific intervals to strengthen the comsignal back to the Ascension. In the century prior to this, it would have taken a full size starship to seed subspace relays as they were the size of the _Delta Flyer_ itself.

Now the newer version of the relay was no bigger than a basketball with twice the power of the older relays. A shuttle like the Flyer could carry and place dozens of them. Between Carter and Ferretti, regular status reports were constantly coming in.

From the reports, they could start building the first ships before O'Neill and Kawalsky returned. O'Neill was very pleased with that. "Start with the smaller ships as we aren't sure what will come of this meeting. Something like the _Defiant_ class, _Saber_ class, _Danube_ class runabouts, the _Delta Flyer II's_, and attack fighters should be perfect. I would go with the _Valkyrie_ class instead of the _Peregrine_ for the fighters. Also work on getting a large spacedock ready so we can start building heavy cruisers and dreadnaughts."

Carter smiled at him on the screen. "Already working on that Sir, it won't be finished by the time you get back but it won't be much longer." O'Neill and Kawalsky looked at each other and grinned because both of them knew Carter was actually having fun with this mission no matter how serious it was.

"Alright Lieutenant, keep up the good work and we should be back in a week or so." With that he closed the channel and leaned back in his seat to rest. They would reach Earth orbit in about two hours and then the work would begin.

Captain O'Neill and Commander Kawalsky had been in Earth orbit for two days now listening in on different frequencies to get a feel as to what the Earth was doing in this reality. O'Neill had thought it very odd to have found that there were television shows and movies that had ships that looked exactly like the ships from their reality and used the same terms as well. There were separate shows based on everything from the launch of the first Earth built warp five ship to _Voyager_ being lost in the Delta Quadrant.

He had even sent copies of them back to Carter to see what she made of them. Her theory was that whoever created those shows had gained access to something like the stone discovered on Dozaria that O'Neill had taken to his ready room. So those persons were linked to whatever was actually happening back in their reality.

On the third day of scanning and sifting through data, Captain O'Neill decided to test a theory. O'Neill was born and raised in Minnesota and still owned a cabin on a large pond there. So he took the cloaked Flyer into the atmosphere to get a closer look at an identical cabin he had spotted in Minnesota.

As the Flyer neared the cabin, O'Neill began running a scan of the cabin and surrounding area. He read one life sign in the cabin itself so he landed close to the cabin and knocked on the door. When his identical twin in this reality opened the door, Captain O'Neill looked into his twins eyes.

"Jack, we need to talk." Colonel Jack O'Neill stood there in shock as he was looking at his exact twin with his dead best friend standing next to him. "Charlie? Is that really you?" Kawalsky smiled before answering. "Well Jack, it is but it isn't. Captain O'Neill is right though, we really need to talk."

After an hour of explaining the situation to his counterpart in this reality, Colonel O'Neill contacted the SGC and received permission to bring his guests in for a full briefing. Captain O'Neill looked at Commander Kawalsky who nodded slightly in confirmation.

He had known the captain long enough to know exactly what the captain wanted. O'Neill stood still as Colonel O'Neill moved to get in his truck to drive to the base. "Jack, let's take my ride." Captain O'Neill then walked toward the small clearing where his cloaked shuttle sat.

Colonel O'Neill was totally shocked when the Flyer decloaked in from of him. "Holy crap! Where'd that come from? You aren't planning on flying to the base are you? You won't be able to fly near the mountain, the airspace is restricted. We better take my truck."

Captain O'Neill smiled and shook his head. He knew it was more about his counterpart wanting to be in control than the restricted airspace. "No Jack, we take mine and you just saw it can cloak and become invisible. I could land ON the mountain and no one would ever know."

So all three men climbed aboard the Flyer, Kawalsky cloaked the ship again and flew toward Cheyenne Mountain. He programmed the computer to take a stable orbit above the mountain and to beam them out if needed. That was what the Captain had meant for him to do when he had given him the subtle nod. The ship would remain in orbit cloaked until an emergency situation occurred or either O'Neill or Kawalsky signaled it.

Starfleet O'Neill had his counterpart contact the SGC again to have the rest of SG-1 and a Marine escort to meet them at a small clearing close to the base. As they approached the clearing, Kawalsky ran a quick sensor sweep of the area.

"Everything checks out down there Captain, the remainder of SG-1 and a Marine escort area all that is in the area." Colonel O'Neill looked hurt. "Come on. Do you think I would lie to you after what you have just told me? You know better than that."

Starfleet O'Neill laughed. "And you know it's not you that I don't trust Jack. You would do the exact same thing in my shoes." Colonel O'Neill just shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, you're right, I would."

With that they landed and decloaked the ship. After they had all three exited the ship, it immediately cloaked and lifted off to follow its instructions. Captain O'Neill could see the disappointment on Captain Carter's face and couldn't help but to laugh.

"Don't worry Captain; you'll have plenty of time to tear apart all the new toys that we will be giving you." Sam's face brightened and she smiled like a kid a Christmas. "Great, I can't wait!" All of them laughed at her enthusiasm. It was just the perfect thing to break the ice and get everyone feeling comfortable with each other.

About an hour later they were all sitting in the conference room of the SGC overlooking the gateroom. General Hammond was a bit confused. "So you say your prime directive is not to interfere with the natural technological progression of a less primitive race, so why are you offering this to us?"

Captain O'Neill nodded his head in understanding. "I understand exactly what you mean General but let me say this. We are not really interfering; we are correcting a mistake that someone else has caused by interfering in our reality." He paused before continuing.

"The original plan was to send a cloaked ship back to just beam out the mirror thus eliminating the means which this Ba'al used to enter our reality before it happened. Then that was rejected as we have no way of knowing if any other mirrors exist."

"According to the mind sifter the Klingons used, there was probably more than one made, we just don't know where to find them. We know what planet the one mirror was discovered on and the _Ascension_ has picked up the mirror for safe keeping. So it was decided that the best course of action for both realities was to send a ship back in time then cross to your reality and bring you roughly on par with us in technology."

"This way we save both realities a lot of heartache and unnecessary bloodshed. It's a win/win scenario for both of us." General Hammond thought a little bit. "How much is this going to cost us? I don't see you giving us this very generous gift for free."

Captain O'Neill didn't hesitate. "Well General, you are correct to an extent. The price we ask is that you use this gift wisely and share it with the rest of humanity. We ask that, like the Federation, the SGC becomes the valiant protectors of this galaxy. And don't let some crooked, greedy politician control any of this. That is our price..."

Everyone sat in silence for a minute after that little revelation. General Hammond looked around at his command with tears in his eyes. His voice cracked a little with humbleness when he gave the next command.

"SG-1, you have a go. Go with them and see what they have put together for us. You leave in one hour, dismissed." As he got up from the table, he walked to the window overlooking the gate and Captain O'Neill thought of something else. Jack looked down at the gate room and remembered.

"Oh yeah, we found one of those on the planet where we are building the first base for you." Carter's eyes lit up again. "Really, can you show me the coordinates on a starchart?" Both Kawalsky and Captain O'Neill answered at the same time that they could.

"Why would that be significant?" Neither one of them really knew what the ring was used for. They had a theory but that was all. Carter's face glowed like an Angels at the question before looking toward the General and getting his approval. "Follow me and I'll show you."

Captain O'Neill pointed out the system on a starchart he downloaded into the base computer. It only took Daniel and Carter about five minutes to calculate the gate address and dial the gate. When the whoosh of the unstable vortex came out of the stargate both Federation Officers were totally shocked. Kawalsky was the first to recover.

"What the hell is that thing? We have theories as to what it is but none are confirmed." Carter looked over at Captain O'Neill. "That is a stable wormhole connecting the gate on Earth to the gate on the planet your people are at. Go ahead and try to talk to them."

Captain O'Neill tapped the combadge on his chest. "O'Neill to Lieutenant Carter." Both parties were shocked when Lieutenant Samantha Carters voice was heard coming out of O'Neill's combadge. "Go ahead Captain, I suppose it was you responsible for the ring activating here?"

O'Neill shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Captain Carter. "Well yes in a way you could say that. I am standing in that mountain I saw in the visions talking to the people I saw in the same vision. They say the rings are actually a gate way that uses an advanced technology to open a stable wormhole between gates."

The lightbulb in Sam's head went on. "So that's what they do. With that you wouldn't need faster than Light travel. You could step through to any world that had a ring on them and not have to board a ship. I suppose that it would be handy to have a ship if there are planets that don't have the ring though."

Captain O'Neill knew he had to cut her off or she'd talk for days about the possibilities of such technology. "I'm sending Kawalsky and anyone from the SGC that wants to go with him through the gate to you. I'm sure Captain Carter and Daniel will want to fly back in the Flyer with me."

Both of the people he just mentioned grinned from ear to ear. "I'd prefer to keep my team together if you don't mind." Colonel O'Neill quickly added. Captain O'Neill smiled at his counterpart. "I knew you would that's why I'm sending Kawalsky back now. The Delta Flyer takes four days to get to the planet we've set up shop on and it will be a little crowded."

Teal'c stepped forward. "I would prefer to go through the gate if you don't mind Colonel O'Neill. It is not a pleasant journey to be trapped with four other people on a small ship." Daniel spoke up as well. "Oh me too, I want a chance to study as much as I can. And the thought of being cooped up on a small ship with all of you, doesn't sound like something I'd be interested in."

With that, Kawalsky saluted his superior officer, General Hammond, and Colonel O'Neill and stepped through the gate. Daniel and Teal'c would follow in an hour as soon as they packed a few things and geared up. When Captain Carter and Colonel O'Neill were ready, Captain O'Neill had them stand to either side of him and just a bit behind him. O'Neill then tapped his combadge.

"Computer, three to beam up." General Hammond stood and watched as his two subordinates and their new ally disappeared in a swirl of multi-colored lights.

Once the three were aboard the Flyer, Captain O'Neill gave them a quick tour of the ship. Carter was thoroughly impressed with the little ship and Colonel O'Neill was especially impressed with the replicators.

He liked the powerful pulse phasers and the torpedoes a lot too. After the brief tour, Captain O'Neill took a seat in the pilots chair and set a course for the _Ascension_ at warp 8. In route back to Avalon (Both Daniels had decided that was an appropriate name) Captain O'Neill had shown Carter how to work the computer and she was having a field day.

"You're really going to give us all of this technology for free?" She looked over at Colonel O'Neill who she had been trying to show all of the advancements they were getting. Jack looked back at her. "Carter, read my lips. Big Honkin' ships with Big Honkin' space guns. That's what I'm interested in. Not a hole in the wall that makes food from thin air. Well, except for now," as he headed for the replicator.

"Who's hungry?" He asked with a big grin on his face. Captain O'Neill couldn't help but laugh. "God you two sound just like me and my Carter. She's always trying to tell me about some new gadget she fixed or discovered. I always want to know how much better she had improved our weapons, engines, or shield capabilities."

About an hour out from Avalon, Captain O'Neill contacted Lieutenant Carter to let her know they were almost there.

"We see you on the long range sensors Captain. I have the sensors, replicators, and weapons systems up and running. I wanted to concentrate on our ability to defend ourselves in case the _Ascension_ had to leave the system again. It will be a few more weeks before the starbase is fully operational but we're making excellent progress. The first _Saber_ Class will be ready to begin shakedown tomorrow and the first _Defiant_ Class will be finished in three days. I've even started another spacedock that can be resized to handle repairing or building any size starship."

Captain O'Neill wasn't surprised at all by his Chief Engineers initiative. That brain of hers never stopped working. O'Neill smiled at the Carter that was sitting at the back work station. "It will be interesting to see you two working together. I bet the two of you together will exponentially increase this mission's chance of success."

The Captain knew there were significant changes done to the solar system. He could see the three spacedocks and the starbase on sensors long before he entered the system. He couldn't pick up the defensive turrets on normal sensors but he knew where each cloaked pulse cannon and torpedo turret was thanks to the map Carter had sent him. But it was a sight to behold for Captain Carter and Colonel O'Neill. "Oh my….." Was about all the response Sam could muster.

The sight of the _Saber_ class Scout (or light cruiser) and the _Defiant_ class escort was something that neither were prepared to see. Inside the third spacedock was the hull of another ship but Carter couldn't make out what class it was as only the first part of the superstructure that was started. Captain O'Neill hailed the starbase.

"O'Neill to starbase, Carter, I thought you said the heavy cruiser dock wouldn't be finished by the time we returned?" Carter laughed as she answered back. "We are a little ahead of schedule so I thought I'd surprise you when you got back. We've laid the keel of a _Sovereign_ Class heavy cruiser. It should be finished in just over six weeks."

Normally a build on any ship before the Ba'al clone had entered their universe was about two years or so. With some of the advanced construction techniques the Klingons had ripped from his memory, that time had been significantly decreased.

Most of the Goa'uld technology was inferior by Starfleet standards. There were a few things like the hyperdrives and construction techniques that were vastly superior. The antimatter reactors that most space faring races used in his universe generated much more power than the Naquadah reactors the Goa'uld had in this reality.

So the trick was to mix the technologies to get the best result. All the ships that were to be built to help protect Earth and her Allies in this reality would use hyperspace engines from this reality, powered by warp cores from Starfleet's reality.

Captain O'Neill began explaining a little about the ships they were seeing. "The one on the left is a _Saber_ Class light cruiser or scout. They are decent little ships with a crew of roughly forty, acceptable firepower, and are extremely maneuverable. The version we are building will have regenerative ablative armor, layered shielding (one primary shield backed by a secondary shield), four pulse phaser cannons, multidirectional phaser arrays, two forward torpedo tubes, and one aft torpedo tube."

Colonel O'Neill whistled. "Wow, that's a sweet ship." His counterpart laughed at that.

"The _Defiant_ Class on the right has basically the same armament and defensive systems but its warp core generates about twice as much power. Basically you have the power and punch of a heavy cruiser in a package that is small, fast, and highly maneuverable. A squadron of these hunting in wolfpacks like the German U-boats of WWII can handle just about any ship I have ever seen or heard of."

He chuckled at a thought. "When the _Defiant_ was first developed, it was called "overgunned and overpowered" for a ship its size, you know, kind of like dropping a 454 big block engine into a Chevy Cavalier."

Colonel O'Neill cracked up laughing because he had actually done something similar in school. "The next one you see in the large spacedock is a _Sovereign_ Class heavy cruiser as Carter said earlier. The latest Starfleet Flagship was a _Sovereign_ class, the USS _Enterprise-E_."

Carter rolled her eyes because she knew what Colonel O'Neill's response would be. "You mean THE USS _Enterprise_, first captained by Jonathan Archer, then James T. Kirk, then Jean Luc Picard?" Captain O'Neill was a bit taken back.

"Yes, that same USS _Enterprise_ but don't forget also captained by Christopher Pike and Spock for a short time. How do you know all of these things Colonel? I haven't seen you using the computer." Colonel O'Neill shook his head. "Are you kidding? I've grown up watching Star Trek. It's one of the greatest Science Fiction series ever created!"

So Carter had been right and somehow the creator of Star Trek had access to the communication stones. Working together the Daniels from both realities had translated some of the language in the transcripts from the wall carvings found on Dozaria III.

That's how they knew the stones were part of a larger communication device but the larger part had not been found. Just too bad the melted slabs of metal and polymer they had found weren't intact. From the sensor readings they had taken of them, the slabs were believed to have been from the remains of an advanced computer system.

Captain O'Neill landed the Flyer in the shuttlebay of the _Ascension_; he beamed over to the starbase then escorted Colonel O'Neill to where Daniel and Teal'c were. "Oh hi Jack," Both Daniels said in unison as O'Neill entered the room.

"You're not going to believe this but with these guys help; we'll be able to rid the galaxy of Goa'uld oppression in no time." Colonel O'Neill was still doubtful. "We still have a long way to go Daniel before we can take on the Goa'uld in open combat."

Daniel waved his hand as if to dismiss the thought. "Teal'c and I have been helping adjust their shielding and armor to survive and even repel the plasma blasts from Goa'uld weapons. Watch you'll see. Teal'c shoot the target again." Daniel excitedly told Teal'c. Teal'c bowed his head. "As you wish Daniel Jackson."

Teal'c pointed his staff weapon toward the target at the far end of the room and pressed the firing switch. A bolt of superheated plasma shot out of the end of his staff and splashed harmlessly against the target. There were not even scorch marks left from the contact. Captain Carter was the most impressed. "Wow Daniel, that's very impressive."

Daniel was grinning like a kid. "Oh that's only part of what they have to offer us. That was just the unpowered body armor. These guys have made their ships of the same stuff. But of course a staff weapon and a Ha'tak cannon are very different in power. So there could still be kinetic damage and such so we won't know until we can capture a Ha'tak or face one in battle."

After Colonel O'Neill had checked on Daniel and Teal'c, he made his way to the Stargate that had been moved to the starbase for security reasons, to dial the SGC and make an official report. General Hammond was extremely pleased with the report and asked to send other members of the SGC through to learn and assist in building what he called their future.

Colonel O'Neill had someone contact Captain O'Neill to ask his permission. Captain O'Neill showed up at the Stargate five minutes later. "Send as many through as you want General. This planet has more than enough room to spare and your people need to learn all they can about this technology. We won't be able to stay here very long and your people will have to carry on without us when we are forced to leave."

Colonel O'Neill looked at his counterpart a little shocked. "Wait a minute now. You didn't say anything about leaving and us being on our own. Not that we couldn't handle it, I just don't like surprises and that counts as a surprise."

His counterpart just held up his hands in mock surrender. "Don't kill the messenger, I'm just going off of what Carter and the eggheads back home said, something about Tropic Failure or something. Basically we can't stay here because there are "other" us's here and we don't belong in this reality. She'll have to explain it to you. I just know what I heard."

Carter had been walking up with her counterpart and had overheard part of conversation. "You never listen when we start talking technical terms Captain, it's Entropic Cascade Failure. Basically two organic beings from different realities can't exist together in the same reality for long. The home reality treats the visitor like a virus. The only people that can safely transition and stay are the ones where their counterpart is deceased or never existed. That's why the Ba'al clone was able to live in our reality because the Goa'uld never existed in our world."

O'Neill looked around. "Oh yeah, that's what I meant. So if Charlie or one of the others wanted to stay, they'd be alright?" Carter nodded her head. "Yes Sir, there would be no ill effects to them at all. We have approximately six months ourselves because we took the nucleotide stabilizer that Dr. Bashir came up with." Captain O'Neill grinned again.

"That should give us enough time to get your people trained up on the ships and technology. Normally it would take four years in Starfleet Academy but we will have to settle with a crash course, no pun intended."

The work over the next few weeks was exhausting to say the least. The USS _Saber_ and the USS _Defiant_ were both launched and the Tau'ri (which the people from Earth were considered) sent enough people through the gate to learn to operate and maintain the first additions to the Tau'ri fleet. The holodecks on the _Ascension_, the starbase, and the planet itself were in use around the clock helping the Tau'ri better understand the new ships and all of the technology they were being gifted.

Colonel O'Neill had put forth the idea that both the _Saber_ and _Defiant_ should conduct their shake down and training cruise at the same time and stick together. O'Neill, Teal'c, Daniel, and Commander Kawalsky had returned to Earth to continue exploring the gate network. Captain O'Neill and General Hammond had also made an agreement to do sort of an Officer Exchange Program. While members of the SGC were training with the ships and technology they were being given, crew members of the _Ascension _had joined several SG teams and research teams at the SGC.

One of those crew members was Lt. Commander Ro Laren. Laren was looking through computer files of the SGC when she found something that puzzled her. When Captain O'Neill had made his offer, several files from the time the gate was first brought to America were declassified.

She walked to the intercom of the wall. "Colonel O'Neill, this is Lt. Commander Ro. I found something in the newly declassified files that puzzles me. Could you or Daniel come down to the lab and take a look at this please?" The intercom crackled and she heard Colonel O'Neill's voice. "We'll be right there Commander."

Twenty minutes later, SG-1 (minus Captain Carter), Commander Kawalsky, and Lt. Commander Ro were watching some of the old tapes that had been transferred from the Pentagon. "Right here is what I saw that didn't make any sense."

She paused the VCR as the unstable vortex of the gate erupted from the event horizon. "My God, they turned it on in 1945. Why weren't we told this?" Daniel asked. O'Neill shrugged his shoulders. "All of these files were deemed Top Secret until a few days ago. I guess no one has looked at them since they were converted to VCR tape. They may not have even looked at them then, just hit record and let it run. We need to tell the General."

An hour later Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, Daniel, Commander Kawalsky, and Lt. Commander Ro were geared up and prepared to go to the gate address they got from the declassified tapes. They got a stable connection and sent a MALP through. Once the air was deemed safe and the presence of a DHD was verified, the five of them stepped through.

The team secured the gate room and were in the process of exploring further out when an older man walks into the room completely naked. Ro is the first to see him. "Oh my, what do we have here?" She jokes.

The rest of the team turned to face the older man. Daniel steps forward. "Um hi, are you Ernest Littlefield?" The older man looks confused until he gets closer to Daniel. "You're real? You're really real?"

He reaches out and pokes Daniel lightly in the shoulder then grabs Daniel in a bear hug and breaks into tears. Daniel comforted him for a bit then asked if he had something to wear. After Ernest dressed and they had talked awhile, Ernest took Daniel to see the chamber he found.

Lt. Commander Ro found a problem that the MALP hadn't noticed. The DHD main control interface was shattered from falling rocks. Commander Kawalsky broke out the subspace transmitter he had in his pack and hailed Captain O'Neill.

"Avalon Base, we have a problem. The DHD interface is smashed and we can't dial out. Also this planet is being hammered by some pretty bad storms and seismic activity. I'm not sure how much more this old keep can take." It took a little bit but soon they had a response. "I understand Commander. The _Saber_ and _Defiant_ aren't far from you. I'll divert them to pick you guys up."

Kawalsky looked at Colonel O'Neill before answering. "Understood Sir but you should be aware that we found Dr. Littlefield; He is alive and has been trapped here alone for fifty years. He's also discovered some interesting device in a chamber here. It seems to be a type of Universal Language and meeting place for an Alliance of four races."

After a brief pause Lieutenant Carter responded instead of Captain O'Neill. "Commander, we'll have an Engineering and Science team ready to beam down the instant we enter orbit which should be in just over an hour. I'll make sure they have a portable shield generator and equipment to help shore up the structural integrity of the keep."

When she finished Captain O'Neill spoke again. "I'll pass the message to Stargate Command that Dr. Littlefield is alive as well. Be ready to transport him directly to sickbay on the Saber as soon as you arrive Lt. Carter."

Carter acknowledged the order and closed the channel. For the next hour the team explored as much as they could around the keep while Dr. Jackson, Commander Kawalsky, and Dr. Littlefield discussed what Dr. Littlefield had described as the Heliopolis Room.

Just over an hour later Commander Kawalsky's combadge beeped. "Commander we are in a geosynchronous orbit over the keep. We are ready to transport the Engineering and Science team on your order." Kawalsky smiled and looked at Dr. Littlefield.

"Are you ready to transport up to our ship?" Ernest Littlefield was a bit confused. "You have a spaceship like on Flash Gordon? Earth has advanced that far that they can build spaceships?" Daniel smiled a little. "It's a long story Dr. Littlefield. I promise to tell you all about it when we're done here. You'll be fine I promise." Commander Kawalsky waited for Daniel to finish before giving the order to transport. "Go ahead Lieutenant; transport the teams and Dr. Littlefield."

With that Ernst felt a slight tingling as he was engulfed in a column of lights. It didn't take the Engineering team long to get the shield generator up and reinforce the structure of the keep. The Science team went to work with a tricorder making an exact copy of the entire program and the Heliopolis Room.

Between Lieutenant Carter and Captain Carter they figured out how to stabilize the planet's atmosphere and save the keep from plunging into the sea below it. Once Earth had been secured against invasion and the SGC took its rightful place as protectors of the galaxy, research teams could return and study the ruins more thoroughly.

In the mean time, they could program a replica of the Heliopolis Room into the computer to simulate on the holodeck. The Engineering team had also succeeded in repairing the DHD and dialing Earth. Ernest was beamed back down after the ship's Doctor had checked him out and released him. Daniel took Dr. Littlefield back through the gate and the rest of the team beamed up to the Saber.

A few hours later the two ships were cruising through space at warp. They had used the hyperdrive to get them across the galaxy from the Heliopolis planet and now they were testing the warp drive. "Commander, I'm picking up a distress call from a planet three light years to our starboard." Commander Kawalsky immediately ordered a course correction. "Can you give me anymore information Lieutenant" The coms officer adjusted her panel a little.

"It seems a small away team has been overcome by the toxic gases spewing from a super volcano. They are asking for immediate extraction but that's all I can get." Kawalsky immediately ordered the ships to drop out of warp and jump to hyperspace. "Medical alert, prepare for direct transport to sickbay." The second the two starships dropped out of hyperspace above the planet, both ships began scanning.

"I'm reading eight life signs in the vicinity of the gate but they are very faint." Kawalsky didn't waste time. "Get them out of there. Carter you have the bridge, I'm going to sickbay." Colonel O'Neill and his team followed Commander Kawalsky to sickbay.

As they walked into sickbay the doctor turned toward Commander Kawalsky. "We got them all out and all are recovering. They had damage to their respiratory system from the toxic gases and ash in the air. They responded well to the dermal regenerator and will make a full recovery."

One of the people they had just rescued was motioning for Commander Kawalsky. As Kawalsky approached the man sat up. "Who are you? I don't recognize your uniform or technology?" Kawalsky looked toward Colonel O'Neill. "Well, I'm Commander Kawalsky. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Teal'c, and Dr. Daniel Jackson." The man looked at Teal'c. "I am Omac. Why do you have a Jaffa in your midst? Are you Goa'uld?"

Teal'c spoke up. "I am in the presence of the Tau'ri because they helped free me from the service of the False God Apophis. I have vowed to fight by their side until all Jaffa are free." Omac looked doubtful. "The Tau'ri do not posses this type of technology. You are lying or trying to deceive us."

O'Neill took offense to that. "Just one damn minute! We just saved your lives and this is the thanks we get? See if we answer your distress call again." Daniel decided he needed to calm things down. "Jack, they've just been through a lot and he is partially right. If it weren't for Captain O'Neill being sent back in time AND from a different reality we wouldn't have ships like this or this type of technology. Six months from now, Apophis would bring two Ha'tak and conquer Earth. So let's just calm down and explain the full story."

Omac and his people had been watching the exchange and listening carefully. "So the Tau'ri acquired this technology from not only the future, but an alternate reality? This I have to hear." He sat back in the bed and crossed his arms to wait for someone to tell the story. So Daniel stepped to the front of the group and began.

"Well it started with Jack killing Ra last year with a nuclear bomb." Omac kept quiet but did exchange looks with several of his people. "We had discovered the Stargate buried on our planet and being an expert on ancient Egypt I was asked to help figure out how it worked..."

Daniel told the entire tale with others filling in small gaps here and there. When he finished, Omac responded. "If what you say is true, then we welcome your assistance and would ask that you take us to meet the ship that is undoubtedly in route to pick us up, you can use this frequency to contact them."

He handed them a small notepad that had been lying next to the bed with the frequency written on it. "I wish to rest until then." Commander Kawalsky looked to Colonel O'Neill and just shrugged his shoulders. "We understand and hope this can be the beginning of a long and lasting friendship between our peoples. Omac folded his hands over his chest and closed his eyes. "We shall see."

O'Neill was still livid. "Can you believe that arrogant bastard just talked to us like that? I mean come on, he treated us like children for crying out loud!' Daniel just looked at him and shook his head. Kawalsky smiled before answering.

"Come on Jack. Give them a break. Yes he is an arrogant bastard but how can he not warm up to you since you have such a charming personality?" It was everything that Daniel could do not to burst out laughing. O'Neill just looked back at Charlie. "You know, sometimes I wonder if you aren't really our Charlie. You both act so much alike."

Thirty minutes later they dropped out of hyperspace at the coordinates the Tollan ship had given them. Colonel O'Neill had calmed down by then and was in the transporter room with the others when Omac and his people were about to be sent over to the Tollan ship.

He walked up to Omac and extended his hand. "Look, sorry I got mad earlier, I just don't like being called a liar or primitive. No hard feelings?" Omac took his hand uncertainly. "We will see Colonel, we will be watching now that we know the Tau'ri are advancing. There may be a chance for friendship among our peoples."

Kawalsky stepped forward before Jack could respond. "Here is the frequency you will need if you want to contact us. We will be out here and we are growing. If you ever need anything, let us know." He made a motion that indicated the ship around them.

"This? This is just one of our scout ships. We have others and are building more that are even more advanced and more powerful. We will put an end to the Goa'uld tyranny and enslavement of human kind." With that he stepped back and spoke to the transporter operator.

"Ensign, send them home, energize." With that the rescued Tollan people were beamed to their awaiting ship. Commander Kawalsky tapped his combadge when the transporter powered down. "Take us back to Avalon Mr. Paris."

By the end of the month, the _Sovereign_ class heavy cruiser, four more _Defiant_ class escorts, and two more _Saber_ class light cruisers were finished. During the shakedown cruise of the USS _Sovereign_ (Jack had fought to name it the _Enterprise_ but was promised the next _Sovereign_ could be named _Enterprise_), it dropped more cloaked subspace relay boosters all along its course.

The USS _Ascension_ had traveled to the Sol system to begin construction of pulse cannon and torpedo turrets as well as sensor arrays. As the USS _Sovereign_ was cruising through a sparsely populated region, the tactical Officer looked up. Colonel Ronson was the new Commander of the _Sovereign_.

"Colonel, I'm reading energy bursts from the third planet of a system at the edge of sensor range. The burst could be weapons fire but we need to get closer for me to be sure." Colonel Ronson ordered the helm officer to plot a course for that system but to drop out of hyperspace at the far edge the go to warp.

As the _Sovereign_ accelerated into warp, Major Kevin Marks began reading off what he was seeing on sensors. "Colonel, there is a Ha'tak in orbit and several Death Gliders in the atmosphere. The Death Gliders are firing on a small village." Colonel Ronson didn't waste time.

"Ok boys and girls, let's see what this baby is capable of, drop us out of warp, raise shields, full power to weapons. Major Marks, take that Ha'tak out of my sky. Colonel Mitchell, you're cleared to launch the _Valkyries_ and engage the Death Gliders as soon as the Ha'tak is taken care of."

The USS _Sovereign_ dropped into normal space and opened up with phasers and quantum torpedoes. The Ha'tak had seen her drop from hyperspace but had thought she cloaked because their sensors weren't tuned to detect a ship at warp. Phasers shot out from the multi-directional arrays and speared the shields just where the computer calculated the most damage would be done.

The shields flared brightly but held for now. A split second later a full spread of quantum torpedoes slammed into the weakened shields collapsing them completely. "Continue firing, don't let up until that thing explodes!" Colonel Ronson ordered.

The next volley of phaser fire came from the ventral and aft arrays as the Tau'ri heavy cruiser flashed past the wounded Ha'tak. As the lithe ship turned away, another spread of quantum torpedoes spewed from the aft torpedo tubes. The unshielded Ha'tak didn't stand a chance as crimson phaser beams sliced deep into its hull and the quantum torpedoes turned it into a miniature nova.

Colonel Mitchell and his _Valkyrie_ squadron made short work of the Death Gliders around the planet. Colonel Ronson smiled at the first victory against the Goa'uld. "Well, that went extremely well. Let's hope the rest of our battles are this easy. Start sending down medical teams to assist those people. I want a full security detail of Marines sent down as well."

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Frazier contacted the ship. "Ok Colonel, we've done all we can here. I'm beaming the worst cases directly to sickbay and I'll continue to work on them there." Colonel Ronson replied. "Good job Doctor, I'll meet you there."

Before he could get to sickbay, his transporter operator contacted him. "Colonel Ronson, please report to transporter room one." Ronson turned and headed that way. As he entered the transporter room he looked to see two of the wounded being held in stasis.

"What have you got?" The transporter attendant looked his way. "Well Sir, the one on the left is carrying some sort of weapon that he has swallowed. BOTH of them have a Goa'uld Symbiont in them." Ronson was shocked.

"What did you say? Both of them are Goa'uld? Remove the weapon and continue transport after I alert security. Colonel Ronson to security, I want four marines in sickbay now. We have two Goa'uld about to be beamed that way. I want a level one containment field around them at all times."

When Colonel Ronson entered sickbay, he found four Marines standing guard over two unconscious and heavily restrained individuals that Dr. Frazier and her staff were working on. "What's the status Doctor?" He asked.

"They'll live and can be transported to the brig in a few minutes. I have them heavily sedated for the moment but they will be awake in a hour or so if you would like to talk to them then." Colonel Ronson nodded. "How about the others?"

Dr. Frazier looked around. "Well if I would have had to rely on my equipment back at the SGC, a lot of these people wouldn't have survived. This technology is absolutely amazing." Ronson understood exactly what she meant. Watching that Ha'tak disappear in a huge fireball was definitely an eye opener.

An hour later Colonel Ronson walked into the brig with Barim, one of the full Betazoid crew members with him. The left male was literally bouncing off of the walls while the male on the right sat in his cell quietly glaring at the male occupant on the left. "Let me go!" The left male screamed. "Why are you doing this to me? I have done no wrong." Colonel Ronson just stood there and looked over to Barim. Barim didn't say anything but quietly shook his head no. "Ok, you can cut the act. I know you are Goa'uld and I know you're lying. Both of you are Goa'uld."

The right male looked up in terror as the left male changed personality instantly. **"Shol'va! You have been sentenced to die by the Goa'uld System Lords!"** He began trying to make himself throw up and looked very confused when nothing happened. Colonel Ronson held up the little device for the left male to see.

"Looking for this? Hate to break it to you but we found it the instant we transported you aboard our ship." The males face twisted into an ugly mask of hate. **"You will die for defying the will of the Gods!"** He screamed as he slammed himself against the force field keeping him locked into his cell. The right male still had said nothing but there was a slight look of relief on his face.

Captain Ronson looked at him. "Are you going to say anything in your own defense?" The right male stood to his feet. **"I carry the Symbiont Jolinar of Malkshur and I am not Goa'uld. I am Tok'ra and was hiding among these people so the Ashrak named Edrekh could not find me. It seems that did not work."**

Again Colonel Ronson looked toward Barim. This time Barim nodded his head slightly indicating this one was telling the truth. Colonel Ronson wasn't completely comfortable though. "Are you sure?" He asked over the screaming of the left male. The screaming begins to irritate Colonel Ronson.

"Oh for crying out loud would you shut up!" He yells at the prisoner, which just seems to make the prisoner scream louder. Colonel Ronson lets out a huge sigh. "Computer, flood cell one with Neural Gas please, authorization Ronson Beta One."

As the knock out gas fills the cell, the Goa'uld Ashrak slowly sinks to the floor unconscious. "Thank you." Ronson says to him sarcastically. The male on the right can't help but chuckle a little. **"I don't know who you are, but I thank you for your assistance. You aren't Tollan by chance are you?"**

Colonel Ronson shakes his head. No, we are the Tau'ri but we do know the Tollan." Colonel Ronson can see the look of amazement on the Tok'ra's face. **"The Tau'ri? Can you really be people of the First World?" We had no idea you had advanced so far as to possess a ship the likes of this!" **

Colonel Ronson was the one to chuckle this time. "Well it's a long story. But if you'll make yourself comfortable, I'll verify your story and get back with you."

Colonel Ronson left the brig and headed back to the bridge and his ready room. Once in the ready room, he used the comsystem to hail the Tollan. The Tollan that answered his hail was shocked when the Colonel asked about Jolinar of Malkshur.

"How do you know about Jolinar?" The Tollan asked. "Well, we have someone in our brig that is claiming that is who he is and asked if we were the Tollan so I figured I'd give you guys a call and check out his story." The Tollan looked to someone outside of the view of the screen. A beautiful young blonde lady stepped into view and faced the monitor.

"Colonel Ronson is it? I am Rosha, former host of Jolinar. How did you come into contact with the person claiming to be Jolinar?" Colonel Ronson wanted to get to the bottom of this so he told the whole story from the beginning. The look on Rosha's and the Tollan's face said it all.

"You destroyed a Goa'uld Ha'tak before it could even fire a return shot? We may have misjudged the Tau'ri. If you will excuse me, the Curia will want to know of this immediately." The Tollan said before disappearing from view. Then Rosha stepped closer to the viewer.

"Would it be ok if I spoke to Jolinar Colonel?" Colonel Ronson thought about the request for a minute. "I don't see why not. Give me a few minutes to get down to the brig and I'll have this channel patched through down there. I'm not going to say anything about who is one the line, just that someone is." Rosha smiled. "I see Colonel, smart move. You want to see if he is telling the truth by seeing if he recognizes me. I'll be here waiting Colonel."

Once Colonel Ronson was back in the brig he looked to the man that claimed to be host to Jolinar. "Someone wants to talk to you. Ok Major, route the line down to here." He said. The man in the right cell positively glowed when the viewscreen activated.

**"Rosha, how I've missed you. I would ask that I can be returned to you at the earliest possible moment. There is no need to hide anymore. These people have captured the Ashrak that was hunting me."**

Rosha's smile was like looking at a sunset on a warm spring evening. "Ah Jolinar, I have missed you as well. Is it true what the Colonel tells me? Did they destroy a Ha'tak before it could fire a shot?" Jolinar shrugged his shoulders.

**"I cannot answer yes or no honestly. I do know their fighters made very short work of the Goa'uld Death Gliders that were attacking the village I was hiding in. Their medical technology and other technology I have seen is far superior to anything the Goa'uld have." **

Rosha was a bit shocked. "Colonel, I don't know what to say. I am astonished that there could be another race of humans that match the Tollan or Goa'uld in technology."

Colonel Ronson smiled. "Didn't you here that Tollan? We are not just another race of humans, we ARE the Tau'ri. We ARE the First World. All humans in this galaxy that we know of, were transplanted from Earth to be used as slaves by the Goa'uld. We have finally taken our rightful place among the stars. We are here to free the slaves of the Goa'uld and protect them from being enslaved by anyone every again."

Rosha looked away from the screen for a moment and her eyes grew wide. "High Chancellor, it is an honor." An older, regal looking lady with slate grey hair stepped into view. "Colonel, I've just been told something I find hard to believe. Did you really destroy a Goa'uld Ha'tak before it could fire a single shot in return?"

Colonel Ronson was getting tired of being questioned. "Yes Ma'am, we did. I am not on one of the ships that rescued your people. I am aboard the USS _Sovereign_. It is classified as a heavy cruiser and is more than six times the size of the ship your people saw and a lot more powerful."

The High Chancellor realized she had struck a nerve. "I meant no disrespect Colonel, as I said I am just finding it hard to believe. As Narim said, we may have misjudged your people. If you would be so kind, we would like to propose a meeting of our people at our new homeworld of Tollana in three days. Is that sufficient time for your ship to get here?"

Colonel Ronson nodded his head. "My apologies Ma'am. But we do not know the location of your new homeworld. When we returned your people, we met one of your ships at a set of coordinates set by the Captain of that ship."

The High Chancellor smiled knowingly. "I know Colonel. Contact your people and then contact us again with their answer. We will give you the coordinates to Tollana then." With that the screen went dark.

It didn't take long for a team to be assembled and sent through the gate for the _Sovereign_ to beam up. Captain O'Neill, Colonel O'Neill, both Carters, both Daniels, Teal'c, General Hammond, and Commander Kawalsky were all sitting in the conference room of the _Sovereign_ when Colonel Ronson hailed the Tollan again.

This time the call was routed straight to the council chambers of the Curia. "Good day to you again High Chancellor, I have contacted my people and they sent a team through the gate for me to take aboard my ship." The Chancellor smiled.

"Colonel, when you come to Tollan, what will you do with the people of Nasyan that you saved?" General Hammond took over here. "Madam High Chancellor, I am General Hammond of Stargate Command. Colonel please direct the High Chancellor's view to the external camera."

The view switched to a view of the orbit of Nasya and showed two _Defiant_ Class Escorts and two _Saber_ class light cruisers. "

As you can see Madam High Chancellor, we will not leave them unprotected should the Goa'uld show again. We have left several ships in the system and at the moment they are deploying cloaked defensive satellites that have the power to take out several Goa'uld Ha'tak vessels should they return. We will also be leaving a couple of cloaked ships in the area to monitor the situation as well. It will take the combined might of the System Lords to harm these people again."

The High Chancellor was understandably shocked as were the rest of the Curia. "Well General, we have clearly underestimated the Tau'ri and will rectify that right now. Here are the coordinates for Tollana. May your journey be swift and true."

She closed the channel after giving the blessing of a traveler. Colonel Ronson stood from the head of the table and made his way onto the bridge. "Major Marks, set a course for the coordinates the High Chancellor sent us and take us to hyperspace." With that the graceful starship turned and jumped to hyperspace.

It was less than a two hour trip to the Tollan system for the _Sovereign_. Colonel Ronson ordered the ship out of hyperspace at the edge of the Tollan system then hailed Tollan. "High Chancellor, we request permission to approach Tollana."

The response was nearly immediate. "Very nicely done Colonel Ronson. We were wondering if you would be polite and drop out of hyperspace at a respectable distance or if you would jump right into orbit." Colonel Ronson pretended to be hurt. "High Chancellor you wound me. I thought we were on better terms than that."

Then he got serious. "Just joking Madam High Chancellor. It would be rude and ill mannered to jump directly into orbit of your planet without asking permission first."

Apparently they had just passed another test as the High Chancellor smiled again. "Well played Colonel. You have permission to enter orbit of Tollana." Colonel Ronson looked to General Hammond whom just nodded his approval.

"Major Marks, plot a short jump far enough away from the planet that they can get a good look at the Sovereign as we proceed at impulse." Major Marks couldn't help but grin. "Yes Sir, entering hyperspace now." A short jump later the USS _Sovereign_ exited hyperspace a few thousand kilometers from Tollana and gracefully turned toward the planet at half impulse.

It only took a few brief minutes to establish a stable orbit, but the Tollanan people had a long look at the sleek starship with their sensors. When Colonel Ronson and the rest beamed down. Narim was waiting for them at the coordinates.

"Very impressive ship Colonel Ronson, and might I say very well played dropping out of hyperspace far enough out that you would give us a good show." Colonel Ronson just smiled. "I have no idea what you are talking about Narim."

Narim escorted them to the Curia council chambers where negotiations began in earnest. Rosha was there as well and prepared to negotiate to be able to rejoin with her symbiont. Colonel Ronson stopped her before she could even speak. "Rosha, you don't need to negotiate to rejoin your symbiont. We not only checked with the Tollan, we also contacted the Nox and some of our Allies among the Jaffa rebellion."

Rosha looked confused at the mention of the Jaffa Rebellion. Teal'c stepped forward. Even though the Tollan had told her about the Jaffa fighting beside the Tau'ri, she was still slightly taken aback when Teal'c spoke to her.

"The exploits of Jolinar of Malkshur and her fight against the false God Cronus are legendary among the Jaffa. That you could break free of your master and turn to fight against him has given much hope to my people that one day we may too be free."

Rosha was so shocked that she was at a loss for words. Colonel Ronson stepped in again and pointed to the Nasyan man standing several feet behind them. "You may return to the ship to rejoin with your symbiont if that pleases you. Once the symbiont has been rejoined with you, Quinta will be returned to his wife and people."

Rosha was so taken aback she couldn't stem the flood of tears that poured down her cheeks. "Thank you so much for all you have done. I owe you a debt I can never repay." Now the Colonel got more diplomatic.

"I wouldn't say that. Once you are rejoined and rested, you are more than welcome to join the negotiations with the Tollan. Or if you prefer, you can contact the Tok'ra and let them know we would like to open negotiations for an Alliance with them as well." Rosha was again shocked.

"What do you know about the Tok'ra other than what you have learned about me?" Teal'c spoke again. "I have freely given my knowledge of what little I know of the Tok'ra to the Tau'ri." Captain O'Neill stepped up then.

"We captured one of Ba'al's clones and one of our Allies got quite a bit of information out of him. I'll leave the details of how for a later time. Suffice it to say, Ba'al knew quite a bit about the Tok'ra and had plans in place to wipe them out before we captured him." With that he followed the rest into the Curia council chambers and had Rosha and Quinta beamed back to the _Sovereign_.

**Chapter two with another re-write and spacing corrected. I'm not an English major and haven't been to school in over twenty-nine years so I have forgotten a lot of punctuation and spacing rules. So I will separate the lines the best I can to make it an easier read.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Negotiations between the Tau'ri, Tollanans, and Tok'ra**

**Curia Council Chambers on Tollana**

Captain O'Neill entered the Council Chambers and was shown to his seat by a member of the Tollan Security Force. The Tau'ri would be represented by Captain O'Neill, Colonel O'Neill, Daniel Jackson (from both realities), Captain Carter, Lieutenant Commander Carter, Colonel Ronson, and General Hammond. The Tollan of course were represented by the Tollan Curia (Council). The Tok'ra would be represented by Jolinar, Selmac, and Garshaw of the Tok'ra High Council (Jolinar had contacted the High Council as soon as she was on the ship and had rejoined her host Rosha).

Travell (the Tollan High Chancellor) stood and spoke first. "We are all here to put forth a motion for an Alliance with the Tau'ri as the Tok'ra and Tollanans already have a treaty. The question the Tollan have is, what benefits would such an Alliance bring for our people?"

Garshaw indicated she would like to speak. Travell nodded silently to Garshaw. Garshaw stood and put forth what she had to say. **"The Tok'ra would ask the same question of the Tau'ri."** When she had finished, she resumed her seat and listened intently.

Captain O'Neill stood and addressed the assembled representatives as he was the one in charge of giving the advanced technology to the Tau'ri. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Tok'ra and Tollan, I am Captain Jack O'Neill and along with General Hammond and his people, I have drawn up a list of what we are willing to offer for this Alliance." He paused and sat a small holoemitter on the table in front of him. When the emitter began projecting images in the air above the table, he continued.

"We have developed what we call replicators. They use base stock molecules to create virtually anything you can conceive of, from any type of food to the clothes you wear, to electronic components. If you program it into the memory, the replicator can make it given that there is enough base material available. The original replicators needed a specific replicator stock compound to operate. These new ones can use any material in existence from dirt to garbage. "

He cycled to the next image. "We have also perfected antimatter reactors that can provide enough power for virtually any ship or space station. We also have high output fusion reactors for providing power planet side. When we rescued your people, they needed to meet a ship because there was no Stargate on this planet. We can help you build one or bring the one from your old planet here."

He turned toward Garshaw and the Tok'ra representatives. "We offer hosts for the Tok'ra when one of their hosts becomes too old to carry a symbiont anymore. You all know that I came from an alternate universe a few years in the future from this reality. I have over one hundred crew members that want to stay in this reality instead of returning home when our mission is complete. Some of us have to leave as our counterparts are alive and well in this reality and if we do our jobs right, they will stay that way for many, many years. The people that have volunteered to stay either never had a counterpart in this reality or their counterpart is no longer alive."

He looked directly at Colonel O'Neill. "Charlie is one of them Jack." He turned back to the Tok'ra. "I cannot speak for the Tau'ri as a whole but the members of my crew that will be staying here are used to symbionts and many of them would relish a chance to have such a relationship as the Tok'ra share with their symbionts."

He turned so he was facing the Tollan and Tok'ra in general. "As most of you know, the reason we made the decision to help the Tau'ri is to save our own Universe from annihilation. A Goa'uld named Ba'al used a quantum mirror to cross into our universe and take control of one of the worst enemies the Federation has ever faced. He integrated his technology into our enemies and proceeded to destroy anyone that could pose a threat to him. Our mission is to help the Tau'ri destroy the Goa'uld in this reality before they can come to our reality and destroy us. We would like to have the two of you as Allies but we have the power and technology to destroy the Goa'uld on our own. If you don't feel comfortable helping in that goal, rest assured we will still be there to help you should you need it."

High Chancellor Travell thought for a minute. "Captain, we are not a warring people. Our defensive capabilities are far more advanced than the Goa'uld thus we have never interacted with them. We would be interested in a trade agreement more than a mutual protection alliance. Our policy is not to trade our technology with an inferior race but from what little we have seen, it seems you are more advanced in many ways than we are but do you need to annihilate, as you say, the Goa'uld? Can you simply not just destroy the quantum mirror?"

Captain O'Neill didn't back down. "We have already destroyed the mirror that Ba'al used but who is to say that was the only one? What if there are multiple quantum mirrors out there? Destroying the Goa'uld now is the only sure way to stop them from destroying us in the future. We have the knowledge, technology, and the will to destroy them and that is just what we are going to do."

The room was quiet for what seemed like an eternity before Jolinar broke the silence.

**"I have seen firsthand what the Goa'uld are capable of. As have you Garshaw.** **Neither of us were born Tok'ra. We were Goa'uld that became so sick of the depravities of the Goa'uld that we became Tok'ra. If not for the Tau'ri, the Ashrak would have found me and executed me. Thank you again Colonel Ronson, I owe you my life. The Tok'ra have been fighting a war of subterfuge and attrition from the shadows for centuries because we can no longer replenish or numbers since our queen Egeria's disappearance. Before Egeria was lost to us, we fought the Goa'uld face to face like true warriors. Now someone with the strength and the will to fight comes along, and what do we do? We turn our noses in scorn because that is not our way now. I say welcome to our new Allies and let's kick the Goa'uld from the stars!"**

Colonel O'Neill clapped and stood when she finished, "Here, here! I second that motion," Before sitting down after a withering look from General Hammond.

When the negotiations finished several hours later, a trade agreement had been signed by both the Tok'ra and the Tollan. The Tok'ra had also signed a military Alliance by a narrow margin. For now the Tok'ra wouldn't get ship technology and such but they would provide intelligence from their undercover operatives inside the Goa'uld forces and would be integrated into crews of existing and future ships.

The Tollan felt that they had no need for a military Alliance as their ion cannons were more than sufficient for protecting the Tollan. The Tollan had agreed to let Captain O'Neill and his people help them with their Stargate problem.

The Starfleet personnel had studied the gate on Avalon and determined that it would be easy to duplicate the technology now that they had access to Naquadah. Captain O'Neill and the rest of the Tau'ri with him get set to beam back up to the _Sovereign_. "O'Neill to _Sovereign_, eight to beam up, energize." As they disappeared, teams of Engineers began beaming down to help with the construction of the Tollan Stargate.

As the turbolift doors opened to allow Colonel Ronson onto the bridge he looked around at the bridge crew. "Lieutenant, hail the_ Saber_ please." When Captain Halsey (an actual Navy Captain) answered General Hammond stepped forward.

"Captain Halsey, I'll need you to report to the Tollana system and provide any support the engineers on the surface may require. We'll be returning to Avalon and I would prefer to have someone here just in case." Captain Halsey acknowledged the order. "Roger that General, we are on our way. Helm, plot a course for Tollana and take us into hyperspace." With that Colonel Ronson cut the connection. "Major Marks, set a course for Avalon and take us to hyperspace."

Over the next few weeks, several Tollan and Tok'ra came to Avalon to work alongside the Tau'ri. The USS _Saber_ stayed in the Tollana system providing support to the engineers building the Stargate and other things. The Tollan built the antimatter reactors for the Starbase and fusion reactors for the planet from the schematics provided by the Tau'ri.

There had been several tests of the ion cannons to see how they would handle the increased power being fed to them. The fusion reactors had increased the destructive power of the ion cannon by almost a factor of four. The Engineers were also secretly working on a version of the ion cannon that used a phased frequency modulation similar to standard phasers.

These ion cannons could be adjusted either manually or by a computer to fire at different frequencies to help defeat frequency modulating shields. This cannon and other secret projects were being designed and tested on a large base hidden in the asteroid belt of the system the _Ascension_ first entered this reality in. Lieutenant Commander Carter had set up a research lab on a large asteroid protected by a multilayered shield.

Normal exploration had been continuing through the gate and by ship. Each new ship that the Tau'ri built was crewed and tested as fast as they could build them. As each ship was ran through its field trials, it would seed cloaked subspace relays and probes all along its course. By the four month mark in the mission, the Tau'ri with the assistance of the Starfleet personnel could track any Goa'uld ship and troop movement from sectors away.

Several former Goa'uld worlds had been discovered and visited. One of those worlds was called Pangar by the residents there. Daniels from both realities had been putting their archeological talents to work. Daniel from the SGC was looking over some wall paintings with one of the Pangaran researchers when he seemed to get very excited.

"Daniel!" He called to the other Daniel. "You have to come in here and tell me if this means what I think it does!" He called excitedly. The Daniel from Starfleet came running in as fast as safely possible because he knew that tone from his own voice that the other Daniel had found something important. As he ran into the chamber, he saw immediately what the other Daniel was looking at. On the wall in front of them was a huge mural depicting Ra.

As he began reading the hieroglyphs, he became excited too. "Here lies the Shol'va Egeria, Shol'va to Ra the Supreme System Lord. This planet used to belong to Ra? And the Tok'ra queen is buried here somewhere?" Daniel (from SGC) had told Zenna Valk all about the Tok'ra and their Alliance with the Tau'ri. Zenna was the lead scientist that had been working with both Daniels for the last several days.

Zenna stumbled back and Daniel (both) lunged to catch her and keep her from falling. "Are you alright? What's wrong?" Both asked in unison. Zenna was extremely pale and just shook her head. "I must leave now! I have to talk to Dollen! We've done something very, very bad!" With that she turned and bolted from the dig at a full sprint. Both Daniels looked at each other confused, shrugged their shoulders and followed her.

They caught her easily and tried to get her to stop but she refused and seemed to push herself harder. Daniel could see streaks down her face as tears streamed in rivers down her face. She ran into the main council chambers with both Daniels right on her heels.

"Dollen, we have to stop! We have to stop making the Tretonin now!" Dollen, the leader of the Pangaran people was very confused. "Zenna, calm down, what's wrong? What do you mean we have to stop making Tretonin?" Zenna was nearly hysterical. "The Queen, it's THEIR Queen. She's not Goa'uld like we thought, she's Tok'ra!" She managed in between sobs.

Dollen looked at her in complete horror. He had been told the story about the Tok'ra as well. He turned and hurried out the door but not before yelling for both Daniels to follow him. They passed through several buildings and down several flights of stairs before coming to a room locked behind a solid metal vault door.

When the guards at the door saw their leader hurrying toward them, they drew their weapons because they thought something was wrong. Something was, just not wrong in the way they were thinking. "Open the vault now!" Dollen commanded.

The guards didn't waste any time at all complying with their leaders orders. When they were all inside the room, Daniel from Starfleet tapped his combadge. "Captain O'Neill, I think you should come immediately to my location and have Doctor Fraiser beam down here immediately as well with a full med team." Captain O'Neill instantly became worried. "What's wrong Daniel? Has someone been hurt?" Daniel was really at a loss of how to explain. "No Sir, no one has been hurt. I just know you're going to want to see this and I think Janet will be needed as well."

"Ok Daniel, we're on our way." A few seconds later, Captain O'Neill and Dr. Fraiser beamed into the room beside them. Zenna and Dollen jumped because they still weren't used to beaming technology. O'Neill stood there staring at the large tank in front of him.

His mouth was actually hanging open until he caught himself. "Is that what I think it is?" He asked. Daniel looked at him. "Well if you think that is a Goa'uld Queen, you would be partially right. She's a Queen alright, but no longer a Goa'uld. Jack, meet Egeria, Egeria, meet Captain Jack O'Neill."

Jack was still a bit stunned but he tapped his combadge anyway and called the Tok'ra contingent that was assigned to the newly commissioned USS _Intrepid_ orbiting the planet with the _Sovereign_. Kelmaa and Malek were the ranking Tok'ra assigned to the _Intrepid_ so they were the ones that beamed down.

Once they realized what was happening, Kelmaa immediately volunteered to leave her host so Egeria could blend with her host. The Pangarans became instantly hostile. "Absolutely not! If you take her it will mean the deaths of tens of thousands of the Pangaran people!" Zenna and Dr. Fraiser were the two cool heads that prevailed and calmed the situation down. "Dollen, she is their Queen. We have no right to her anymore. We thought she was a Goa'uld." Then Dr. Fraiser stepped in.

"She's too weak to blend for now. Dollen I can help your people so they don't have to die. I've been studying the Tretonin and I can not only duplicate it, I can reverse the effects it has had on your people's immune system. I can adapt the replicated Tretonin so it does not replace your immune system but it strengthens your natural system." Then she turned to Kelmaa and Malek. "I can take her to our ship in a shuttle and once she is strong enough, there are plenty of volunteers that will gladly become a host for Egeria. You don't have to die to give her your host Kelmaa."

Both Tok'ra let out a visible sigh of relief. **"Thank you Doctor. You and your people have shown yourselves to be true and worthy Allies of the Tok'ra."** Then she turned toward the Pangarans.

**"I apologize for my earlier outburst. I thank you deeply for returning our Queen to us after countless centuries. We will do everything in our power to aid the Pangaran people." **With that she stepped to the tank that contained their Queen. When the shuttle arrived, Dr. Fraiser loaded the tank carrying Egeria onto it and took her back to the _Sovereign_.

A week after Egeria was brought back to the ship, a young Betazoid Lieutenant named Emorra Xerx of the Third House of Betazed was chosen out of the many volunteers to become Egeria's new host. The young Lieutenant lie quietly on the bed for several minutes after the blending before slowly sitting up.

**"What a joyous feeling this is. I can see from Emorra's thoughts many, many strange and wonderful things. My children have survived after all these centuries and followed the path I laid for them. A mother couldn't be more proud. Now the time has come to grow our numbers and with our new Allies, take the fight to the Goa'uld." **

Doctor Fraiser did exactly as she promised the Pangarans she would. With Egeria watching intently and providing insight here and there, Janet completely eliminated the negative effects of the Tretonin and even refined it for use by the Jaffa so they would never have to rely on a Goa'uld symbiont ever again. The Pangarans signed an Alliance with the Tok'ra and Tau'ri in exchange for technology and being able to send volunteers to train in the new Starfleet style Academy on Avalon.

As more and more systems came into the Alliance, it was decided that the Alliance needed a name. A long discussion took place and it was decided that since Earth was the birthplace of humanity, United Earth Confederation or UEC for short would be the new name.

All starships built would have UEC instead of USS in front of their name and the ones already built would be changed. Daniel brought up a valid point that technically it shouldn't be called United since Earth itself was not united. The name stayed though as there was a plan to eventually reveal everything to the people of Earth not just a few technologies here and there.

Captain O'Neill and the crew of the _Ascension_ had been away from their reality for just over four months. In that time, they had helped the Tau'ri and their Allies acquire several resource rich systems.

They had also built a nice fleet for the Confederation. The currently active fleet consisted of four _Sovereign_ Class Heavy Cruisers, five _Akira_ Class Battle Cruisers, five _Intrepid_ Class Light Cruisers, five _Iwo Jima_ Class Heavy Assault Ships, ten _Defiant_ Class Escorts, and ten _Saber_ Class Light Cruisers. The keel of an _Ascension_ Class Dreadnought had been laid as well as numerous other hulls ranging from _Galaxy_ Class Heavy Cruisers to _Prometheus_ Class Assault Cruisers.

Another larger spacedock was under construction that would handle a new carrier class ship that both Carters had been working on. Hundreds of _Valkyrie_ fighters, _Delta Flyer II's_, and shuttles were also built. Every system that had joined the Alliance was also loaded with cloaked defensive turrets and sensor arrays. Some Allies had more than one star system colonized so starbase construction was started in each home system. Earth so far was the only home system that did not have a starbase being built in it as the technology and fleet were still a secret from the general populace.

Captain O'Neill did some serious soul searching and decided it was time to take the fight to the Goa'uld as soon as possible. He actually wasn't sure the Confederation was ready but his time was running out. He and his crew were down to less than sixty days before the nucleotide stabilizer wore off.

The ship crews were learning quickly but he felt they would stand a better chance of winning if an experienced captain and crew led the attacks. O'Neill tapped his combadge. "Ops contact Colonel Lucatero and send him to my office please."

He had a special mission in mind for the Colonel. The first target was chosen for two reasons. The first reason was that Teal'c knew this would be where Apophis took Sha're and Skaara. Teal'c could tell them the coordinates to the home system but he admitted that the security procedures were unknown to him as Apophis would have changed them the moment he learned of Teal'c's betrayal.

The second reason was that after Ra's death over Abydos, Apophis had become the strongest of the System Lords. Captain O'Neill sent out a message calling the starships he felt he would need for the recovery operation and telling them all to return to Avalon. The next day the fleet was assembled and the respective commanders of each ship beamed over to the starbase to be briefed on the mission.

Once everyone was in place, Captain O'Neill took a deep breath and began the briefing. "This is it Gentleman and Ladies. Our first large scale strike against the Goa'uld. I've asked Teal'c and Daniel to be here because this concerns them as much as anyone. Our first target is Apophis. He is the one that attacks Earth, capturing the quantum mirror that he gives to Ba'al. He is also the Goa'uld that took Sha're to be the host of his Queen and Skaara to be the host of his son. We have three specific goals for this operation.

"Phase one will be the rescue of both Sha're and Skaara without harming them and extract them from enemy territory. That will be the mission of Colonel Lucatero and his Green Berets." Colonel Sinue Lucatero stepped forward and placed a small holoprojector on the table.

"Yesterday Captain O'Neill sent me to the target system to get some Intel on what type of defenses and troop strength we could expect. There are at least twelve Ha'tak vessels patrolling the system and they are supported by numerous Al'kesh and Death Gliders. There are also several orbital defense platforms as well as staff cannon emplacements scattered across the planet. The orbital platforms and staff cannon emplacements have been painted and will be destroyed the instant the fleet drops out of warp."

"The UEC _Phantom_ will already be in system and will begin jamming at precisely 0800 hours. My team placed several spatial charges in key areas throughout the complex to take out the shield protecting the compound and cause mass confusion. We will detonate the charges the second that the fleet arrives. Once the shield is down, _Phantom_ will beam in strike teams to secure targets Alpha and Bravo. Once the targets are secure, all teams will beam back to the _Phantom_ and return back here to Avalon." When Colonel Lucatero finished his part of the brief he resumed his seat.

Captain O'Neill began the next part of the brief. "Phase two is the complete destruction of any means to resist our attack. We will drop out of hyperspace several light years from the system and proceed at warp as the Goa'uld either haven't realized there are forms of FTL other than hyperspace or they simple don't care. The _Ascension_ will lead the attack and destroy the orbital platforms and staff cannon emplacements the second we drop out of warp. All fighters are to launch as soon as the platforms are destroyed. Alpha Group will consist of the _Ascension_, the _Sovereign_, the _Enterprise_, the _Akira_, and the _Thunderchild_."

"Our mission is to provide cover for the Heavy Assault Transports as they land their troops on the planet and also to provide orbital bombardment support. Bravo Group will consist of the _Intrepid_, the _Voyager_, the _Pathfinder_, the _Republic_, and the _Bellerophon_. Your job along with Charlie Group is to keep the Ha'taks busy and destroy as many as you can. Charlie Group will consist of the _Defiant_, the _Valiant_, the _Saladin_, the _Monitor_, and the _Sau Paulo_. Delta Group will consist of the _Saber_, the _Cutlass_, the _Dagger_, the _Gladius_, the _da Vinci_, and the _Falchion_. Your job is to take out the Al'kesh then patrol the outer edge of the system and intercept any reinforcements that may arrive."

Teal'c stepped forward at that time. "Phase three of this operation will be giving the Jaffa that are fighting for Apophis the chance to renounce him as a false God and join us in defeating the Goa'uld. I believe that when they see that the power of Apophis is no match for the combined might of the Confederation that they will flock to our cause in droves."

He stepped back to allow Captain O'Neill the floor again. "Are there any questions?" When no one asked a question he nodded his head in satisfaction and smiled at the commanders in the briefing room. "As the Klingons say, "It is a good day to die." "Ladies and Gentlemen, may the wind be at your back. Return to your ships, we leave in ten minutes."

The UEC _Phantom_ jumped to hyperspace well before the ten minutes were up as they needed to be in place before the rest of the attack fleet arrived. At the ten minute mark, Captain O'Neill looked toward his coms officer. "Hail the fleet." When his coms officer nodded that he was on fleet wide, he began to speak. "O'Neill to attack fleet, Ladies and Gentlemen, let's do this. Take us to hyperspace."

With those few words, the UEC attack fleet jumped into hyperspace. Two light years from the targeted system, the fleet dropped from hyperspace as one and jumped to warp.

It didn't take very long for the attack fleet to reach Apophis' home system. The Jaffa manning the orbital defense platforms never had time to react as twenty-one starships suddenly appeared as if from nowhere and opened fire. Quantum torpedoes poured from Alpha Group and vaporized the platforms instantly as the torpedoes locked onto tracking beams coming from the cloaked _Phantom_. Crimson phaser beams shot from the multi-directional phaser arrays and took out the pre-painted ground installations.

The Jaffa on the ships patrolling the system immediately moved to engage these fools that had the gall to attack a God's holdings. The ships hadn't moved far before ships half the size of the Ha'taks and some even smaller appeared and unleashed a hail of weapons fire.

Quantum torpedoes and pulse phaser cannons from the _Defiants_ slammed into the lead Ha'tak and collapsed its shields with the first volley. The torpedoes were able to strike the unshielded hull destroying the ship in a massive fireball. The two Ha'taks that were flanking the lead ship were engulfed in the expanding explosion and when the light faded, both ships were dark and drifting.

As the _Intrepid_ wing entered the fight, they unleashed a spread of photon torpedoes on the drifting ships turning them into fireballs as well. The Ha'taks never stood a chance against the combined firepower of five _Intrepid_ Class Cruisers and five_ Defiant_ Class Escort Cruisers. The fight was over almost before it began.

The six _Saber_ Class Light Cruisers were having a bit more trouble with the Al'kesh. The _Saber_ itself was venting plasma from her port nacelle and listing from a plasma bomb detonating on her shields. "Damage report!" Captain Halsey screamed as his ship shook hard from another plasma bomb strike. "Hull breach on deck four. emergency force fields in place and holding! We're venting plasma from the port nacelle! Weapons are offline and shields are at thirty percent!" Captain Halsey wasn't happy with that.

"Reroute power from weapons to the shields. Helm, get us out of the fight until shields recharge. Engineering get me my weapons back as soon as you can!" The helm officer did his best to get out of the fight but the Al'kesh and Death Gliders were swarming all over the ship like flies at a picnic. Another plasma bomb stuck the ship and the port nacelle exploded and sent the little ship spinning.

Several of the other ships of Delta group saw the _Saber_ hit and moved in to try and cover the wounded ship. Just then Colonel Mitchell and his squadron of _Valkyries_ followed by the rest of the fleet's fighters came swarming in like angry wasps.

Captain Halsey was pulling himself by one arm back into his command chair. Smoke filled the bridge from burning consoles. The viewscreen was flickering on and off but it was enough for him to see the _Valkyries_ swooping in like their namesake from Norse mythology. "God but those are a beautiful sight. Look people," he told his surviving bridge crew. "our Angels have arrived and boy are they pissed."

"Viper Squadron, form up with Viper lead and cover that damaged _Saber_. I don't want another Al'kesh or Death Glider anywhere near that ship. Squadron leaders, pick your targets and handle business, you all know what to do." Colonel Mitchell ordered.

"Roger Viper lead, we've got your back." His squadron and the squadron leaders replied. Each squadron broke off and concentrated on one target. Except the squadrons that were designated for fighter cover that is. Each squadron that was assigned fighter cover broke into teams of two, one took lead and the other covered his leads wing. Al'kesh and Death Gliders began disappearing in bright flashes of fire all over the system.

While the fight raged with the smaller ships, the Heavy Cruisers were providing cover for the Assault craft to land troops and equipment. Four _Iwo Jima _Heavy Assault Ships dropped into the atmosphere and began beaming down the members of the 4th Pangaran Marine Regiment and their vehicles.

Each ship carried 1,250 men plus their tanks, artillery, and troops carriers. 5,000 men and their equipment were now on a planet that had never been conquered by any of Apophis' enemies. But the Jaffa had never faced an army the likes of what had been created by Captain O'Neill and the United Earth Confederation.

The average Marine rifleman carried a standard Starfleet Marine Assault Rifle while the NCO's (Non Commissioned Officers) carried the Type 1B Marine photon rifle. Each platoon also had designated marksmen that were carrying the TR-116 Sniper Rifle that had been authorized for use in this universe. There were also heavy weapons squads armed with the Marine Corp Squad Support Phaser Weapon. That was the layout of your basic Light Infantry Company.

The Mechanized Battalions in the Regiment were armed similarly but the average rifleman was carrying the Type 3E Phaser rifles. The NCO's in the Mech Battalions carried the same rifle as the Light Infantry NCO's. The Armor Battalions in the Mech Battalions were comprised of four Companies of _Vanguard_ Phaser Tanks. The Companies were made up of four Platoons of four Squads each. Each Squad was one tank and each Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant had their own tank. So each Platoon consisted of six tanks giving a Company a total of twenty-seven tanks if you added the Company Commander, the Company Executive Officer, and the Company First Sergeant.

The Mechanized Infantry Battalions had a make-up nearly identical to the Armor Battalions but they had more personnel and used the _Brigadoon_ Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) instead of the _Vanguard_ Phaser Tank. The IFV had a smaller, less powerful phaser cannon on it and relied more on strength in numbers from the men it carried into battle.

There were also the Artillery Battalions that had the same number of vehicles as the other Mech Battalions. They used the _Bridger_ Class Photon Artillery. Each Photon Artillery Battalion also had a full Platoon of _London_ Class Mobile Shield Emitter Vehicles that added extra protection from orbital bombardment or counter artillery fire.

Each Regiment also had one Recon Company that used the _Burke_ Class Scout Vehicles. There were also _Avenger_ Class Anti-Air Vehicles that utilized twin rotary phaser cannons to protect against enemy fighters or bombers.

Every vehicle in the Regiment as well as every Marine had their own shield generator that was supplemented by the _Londons_. There were few in the Starfleet Universe that did not quake in their boots at the sight of a Mechanized Regiment bearing down on you. The Jaffa were absolutely terrified at the sight of such power.

The _Phantom_ moved into low orbit the instant the orbital platforms were destroyed and detonated the spatial charges they had planted the day before. The instant the shield collapsed, dozens of Special Forces teams beamed in all over the palace. The teams began moving through the Palace to draw as many Jaffa as they could away from the throne room. After a few minutes, the extraction team supplemented by Teal'c and Daniel beamed into the throne room.

There were a few Jaffa left in the room but Apophis, Sha're, and Skaara were nowhere to be seen. For the ground mission, Captain O'Neill had ordered the weapons set for heavy stun unless needed to blast through a door or barricade. The extraction team stunned every Jaffa in the room. When another team moved in to secure the room and unconscious Jaffa, Teal's motioned toward a blank wall.

"This way, it is a secret door Apophis had built in case of attack and he was forced to flee." He turned a small snake like symbol and the door swung inward. Daniel was the first through the door and was knocked down when a staff blast slammed into his personal shield.

Special Forces Operators returned fire and advanced down the hall past the motionless Jaffa. As the team moved down the corridor, more Jaffa tried to fire on them to kill or at least slow them down. So far the shields were stopping all of the staff blasts thanks to the adjustments Carter and Daniel made with the help of Teal'c.

After passing through several rooms and hallways, the team came upon a small platform where a small ship rested. Teal'c could see Apophis glaring at him through the canopy of the Pel'tac (Goa'uld for Bridge). Klorel (Skaara) was flying the ship and tried to turn its weapons toward the team.

Colonel Lucatero adjusted the Type 1B Photon Rifle he is carrying while the rest of the team dealt with the Jaffa that were trying stop them from catching their God. The Colonel doesn't even take time to aim because at this close of a range, there is no need. He fires two shots into the engines and the ship drops like a stone.

Once the dust cleared, Teal'c stepped forward and opened the hatch. While the three Goa'uld inside are still stunned from the crash, the extraction team rushes into the ship and secures both Sha're and Skaara and beams back to the _Phantom_.

Teal'c and Colonel Lucatero strip Apophis of his Kara Kesh (hand device) and bind him with Starfleet energy cuffs. Once Apophis regains his senses he is quick to talk trash to Teal'c. **"Shol'va! Release me! I am your God!" **Teal's ignores him and drags him away from the ship and to the balcony of the palace.

The Jaffa on the planet have been subdued and disarmed. Captain O'Neill orders them to be congregated in front of the palace. He stands on the balcony with Teal'c and Colonel Lucatero and turns on a holoemitter that projects a large image of Apophis over the crowd. He looks at Teal'c and nods his head. Teal's steps forward and drags Apophis with him.

"Jaffa, hear me! Here is your False God. He cannot help you. He cannot stand against the power of the United Earth Confederation. No False God can. We will prove that this imposter is just that, an imposter that is playing God. Yes the Goa'uld have powerful technologies but you saw with your own eyes the power that the Allies of the Tau'ri posses. Behold! Your False God."

With that a micro transporter locks onto the symbiont and beams him into a glass bubble that Captain O'Neill is holding. He hands the container to Teal'c who smashes it on the pavement in front of the assembled Jaffa.

The Symbiont squirms, shrieks, and dies in front of their very eyes. The former host of Apophis starts looking around confused and is led back inside by Colonel Lucatero and Captain O'Neill while Teal'c continues.

"Join us Brothers. Join us and enjoy the freedom that can be yours if you but denounce the Goa'uld as False Gods. The Tau'ri have grown strong but will be even stronger with the Free Jaffa as Allies. Together we can end the centuries of terror and slavery the Goa'uld have forced upon us! Join us and be free!" The roar from the assembled Jaffa is deafening.

Inside Captain O'Neill hailed the Ascension. "It sounds like Teal'c has them ready to rip the Goa'uld's heads off. Any Jaffa that wants to join is free to join up but I want some of the Betazoids to screen them before we allow them free reign. How goes the battle?"

Commander Kawalsky answered back. "The battle is over Captain. Once the remaining Jaffa in the system heard that their God was dead, any ship that was capable jumped out. There weren't many that were capable of making it to hyperspace.

There were only two Al'kesh that managed to open a window and one was damaged badly enough that it exploded trying to enter hyperspace. The _Saber_ lost her port nacelle but I think she is salvageable. We lost a few fighters but not many. All in all it was a complete slaughter."

O'Neill knew that wouldn't always be the case. "We got lucky this time Charlie. They had no clue we were coming. Now that we've taken out Apophis, we can expect massive retaliation from the rest of the System Lords." He heard Kawalsky chuckle. "You've got that right Sir, by the way, the extraction of the symbionts from Sha're and Skaara was successful and both symbionts have been turned over to the Tok'ra for execution. Daniel has asked permission to take a shuttle and return both of them to Abydos."

O'Neill thought about that for a little bit. "Go ahead and have the _Intrepid_ take them back that way if they need it they have a little more firepower backing them. Also make sure the _Intrepid_ sets up some pulse cannon and torpedo turret around Abydos. After this battle, I have a feeling they may need them." Charlie acknowledge the order and closed the channel. A few minutes later, the _Intrepid_ jumped to hyperspace carrying Daniel, his wife, and his Brother-in-law.

Captain O'Neill ordered the _Saber_ towed back to Avalon and then had the _Ascension_ start placing pulse cannon turrets, torpedo turrets, and sensor arrays around the newly conquered system. This was a war and a war he planned to win in the short time he had left. Teal'c and Master Bra'tac took a contingent of Jaffa through the stargate to Chulak to prove Apophis was dead.

O'Neill also authorized the deployment of the ten _Defiant_ class ships to Chulak to begin fortifying that system as well. He knew that one Al'kesh had managed to jump into hyperspace and it was tracked to Chulak. But it only spent a few minutes in the system before jumping out again to Ba'al's territory. It was only a matter of time before the System Lords united and came after them in force.

Over the next several days, Teal'c, Master Bra'tac, and Jaffa formerly loyal to Apophis spread the word to all of the worlds that had been ruled by Apophis. As each world rejoiced and joined the cause, UEC ships began solidifying their control over the territory. Heavy construction ships had been built and they began building defensive turrets and platforms in every system

No ship was ever alone. The _Saber_ Class patrolled in groups of three with two remaining cloaked unless the third was attacked then the other two decloaked and lit up the attacker. The UEC _Phantom_ performed deep recon missions into enemy territory. O'Neill wanted to know the instant the System Lords made their move. In the mean time, he wasn't waiting on them to attack; he was still moving ahead with his plans.

The next target he planned to go after was Kali. Once she was crushed and her territory annexed, that would give the UEC control over most of the lower half of the Milky Way. As he sat in his ready room on the Ascension a thought hit him and he tapped his combadge. "Commander Kawalsky, would you report to my ready room, I just had a terrible thought."

A few seconds later there was a buzz from the door. "Enter." O'Neill called and Charlie walked through. "Commander, I want you to beam over the _Sovereign_ and head for Earth immediately." Kawalsky sat down in the chair in front of the desk. "Sure Jack, may I ask why?" Kawalsky had known Jack long enough to know there was something important that had occurred to his friend.

"Charlie, the Stargate was found in Giza along with several other Goa'uld artifacts. What if there is more Goa'uld technology that hasn't been found yet? Can you imagine if the wrong person finds those?" Charlie had been standing before Captain O'Neill finished the sentence.

"You're right Jack and that scares the hell out of me. I'll beam over right now and once we get to Earth we'll scan that entire planet until we either find something or determine there is nothing to find!" With that he contacted Colonel Ronson on the _Sovereign_ and beamed directly over from O'Neill's ready room.

Right after Charlie beamed out and the _Sovereign_ jumped to hyperspace O'Neill heard his name on the comsystem. "Captain O'Neill, please report to the bridge." Jack sighed, stood up and headed to the bridge. "Report Lieutenant." He said as soon as he walked through the door. "Sir, I'm picking up a ship on sensors. Unknown configuration but it's heading to this system."

Jack moved over to his command chair. "Yellow alert. Raise shields and power up the weapons. Open hailing frequencies; let's see who they are and what they want." The coms officer nodded that the channel was open. "Unknown vessel, this is Captain O'Neill of the United Earth Confederation. Identify yourself and state your business for entering this star system."

A few seconds later he got a reply. "I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. Who are you Captain and what is the United Earth Confederation? We have studied Earth for centuries and other than ourselves, the Ancients, and the Goa'uld, no one has possessed the technology you have." Jack blinked and looked toward the Tok'ra at the science station.

Malek stood and approached the Captain. **"The Asgard and the Tok'ra have minor relationship. We know of them and they know of us, but there has been little interaction even though we both oppose the Goa'uld."**

O'Neill took that information under consideration. Then it hit him. "Wait, THE Asgard, from the Alliance of the four races?" Thor blinked a bit surprised. "So you know of the four races? Captain, we must talk. If the people of Earth have advanced in secret to this level of technology, there seems there may be a fifth race. May I board your ship?" Jack thought that ok and nodded. "I think that would be acceptable. I'll meet you in the transporter room."

Ten minutes later Captain O'Neill was standing in the transporter room and gave the order to lower shields. Before he could order transport, Thor appeared on the transported pad on his own. "We have transporter technology too Captain but I could not beam through your shields, most impressive. We indeed have much to talk about." Captain O'Neill led Thor to his ready room so they could talk in private without some of the Earth crew members staring at him. The Starfleet personnel were used to seeing many types of aliens. The Tau'ri hadn't grown accustomed to that yet.

Captain O'Neill told Thor the entire story from the beginning. Once he was finished, Thor thought for a bit before speaking. "Captain, we are one of the last remaining races besides the Nox from the Alliance of four. The Ancients have moved on from this part of the Universe or ascended. The Furlings disappeared centuries ago and have not been heard from since. We are at war with the Goa'uld but have a protected planets treaty with them. There are several planets that by treaty are protected from the Goa'uld. In return, we are not to allow any of those planets to advance to a point that they could become a threat to the Goa'uld."

O'Neill stopped him. "Earth isn't one of the protected planets is it?" Thor blinked. "No it is not. But that is not why I told you of the treaty. The Asgard can no longer enforce the treaty. We are at war in our own galaxy with an enemy far more deadly and dangerous than the Goa'uld. We no longer have the resources to protect the planets stated in the treaty. When we detected your ships near one of those planets, I was sent to investigate. I had activated the stealth system on my ship but you were still able to detect my approach."

O'Neill smiled. "In our universe, there are several races that have true cloaking devices and we learned to detect their ships even while cloaked. Every ship that we have built here for the Tau'ri and their Alliance has been equipped with a true cloaking device. You cruised right past four cloaked ships as you entered the system. Your ship was not cloaked as we know it and was very easy to detect compared to a cloaked Romulan or Klingon ship."

Thor was a bit surprised but didn't show it. "My sensors would have picked up such ships had they existed Captain." O'Neill smiled. "Would you like to see? In a second, transport us both to your ship and I'll prove it to you." He informed his crew what he was doing and Thor transported both to his ship.

"Go ahead, scan the area with your sensors." Thor did as he was asked. "There are no other ships in the system except the _Ascension_ and the _Beliskner_ but I am detecting a slight energy distortion in the area." O'Neill smiled and tapped his combadge. "O'Neill to _Defiant_, have your escort wing drop your cloaks for a few minutes." Thor blinks when he hears the reply.

"Yes Sir Captain, dropping cloaks now." Five _Defiant_ Class Escorts (one had been on the other side of the system and moved in after the _Beliskner_ arrived) shimmered into view with the _Beliskner_ between them and the _Ascension_. Thor scans again and detects the ships this time.

"Most impressive Captain but I have now discovered what to scan for. Hiding your ships will not be so easy in the future. My scans show those are very powerful ships for their size. They are nearly on par with the ships we used a few hundred years ago. One moment while I contact the Asgard High Council."

O'Neill stands patiently while Thor converses with the Council. He doesn't understand what they are saying at first, but after a couple of minutes, the translation program in the Universal Translator sorts through the words and adjusts so he is able to understand when the Council tells Thor to offer a treaty. Before Thor can turn away and close the channel, Captain O'Neill steps forward and addresses the Council. They are a bit taken back to hear him speaking in their language.

Thor looks to him, blinks again, and studies the Captain while he speaks. "Honorable members of the Asgard High Council. We would be honored to enter into a treaty and possibly even a full Alliance with the Asgard. Supreme Commander Thor tells me you are at war, and not doing so well I might add, with a dangerous enemy. If you would allow me and my people to know the details of this war, we may be able to help you. We are not yet at our full strength and we took down the System Lord Apophis at his home planet in less than three Earth hours."

The Council was actually a bit shocked but could not express it as their faces could make no expression at all. "Captain, if that is indeed true, you may be of assistance to our race. You are authorized to give full disclosure to Captain O'Neill and a few select advisors of his choosing."

With that the Council closed the channel. "Supreme Commander, if you'll be so kind as to take me to these coordinates, my people and I will do our best to help assist your people. Just give me a few seconds to tell my ship what we are doing so they can call ahead and avoid us being shot out of the sky when we enter the system." He called the _Ascension_ and explained what he was doing. The _Defiant_ and her wing recloaked and resumed patrol of the system they had taken while rescuing Daniels wife and Brother-in-law.

Jack looked over at Thor. "Before you go to hyperspace let me warn you that you will not be able to enter the Avalon system in hyperspace. We have set hyperspace disrupters all around the system to force any ship approaching out of hyperspace. Just drop out of hyperspace a light year from the system and one of our ships will be waiting to tow us the rest of the way." Thor was curious to see the technology that could do this.

He moved a stone on his command chair and they were nearly instantly one light year from the Avalon system. O'Neill was shocked. "Wow! You're packing some fast engines! I guessed you were on par with us in speed but it would have taken a couple of hours for our ships to travel that distance!"

Thor blinked (It seems that and move their mouth are all the facial expressions the Asgard are capable of). "The Asgard hyperdrive is the fastest in existence since the Ancients are gone. Some of their technology is still in widespread use such as the Stargates. The Goa'uld have stolen most of the technology they have from cache's of Ancient technology they have discovered. They have learned to reverse engineer it to an extent but the Goa'uld versions are not nearly as efficient nor as powerful."

An _Intrepid_ Class Cruiser decloaked in front of the _Beliskner_ and locked a tractor beam on them. It then turned and jumped to low warp to tow them into the system. Thor was continuously scanning the ship. "Interesting, you have both hyperdrive and a different type of Faster Than Light travel that I do not believe has been used by the Asgard or anyone else for centuries. I am reading an anti-matter reaction taking place in your ships core."

O'Neill nodded. "We developed cost effective means of making anti-matter over 200 years ago. We use it as the power generation for our ships and space stations. A man named Zefram Cochrane invented warp drive on Earth over 300 years ago. It was the primary FTL drive we used in our reality until Ba'al came and we learned about hyperdrive from him." Thor shook his head.

"We abandoned anti-matter centuries ago due to the latent instability of the magnetic containment vessel on a planet's surface." He wasn't very comfortable with the story O'Neill told him about how the Klingons had gotten the information from Ba'al. But once he thought about it, he realized they only did what they had to in order to fight off extinction.

Once they passed the outer edge of the system Thor could see the previously unreadable system was a veritable fortress. His sensors were blinded by a jamming field of immense power until he was through the barrier. If he had more time and the need to he could have cut through the jamming field. Shipyards were orbiting every planet in the system.

A massive starbase was in orbit of the third planet and he suspected there were cloaked ships and maybe defensive turrets he could not yet see on his sensors. He would have to rectify that soon. Obviously these humans from an alternate universe and timeline were highly advanced.

What did give Thor quite a bit of comfort was the knowledge that though these humans were advanced, they were still centuries behind the Asgard. The fact that the Asgard hyperdrive was exponentially faster than the drives they had reverse engineered from the Goa'uld didn't hurt either. He also knew that it would be in the best interest of the Asgard people as a whole to trade a faster hyperdrive to them for their assistance with the Replicators.

The Cruiser that was towing them in signaled they were releasing the tractor beam as it dropped out of warp and that the _Beliskner_ could continue at sublight. Once the _Beliskner_ was docked at the starbase, Captain O'Neill took Thor to one of the Holodecks.

Again the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet was surprised. These new humans were more advanced then he would have thought given the history he had heard. They seemed to posses great potential and maybe even one day they could become as advanced as the Ancients.

He saw something that caught his attention in the images the holoemitter was projecting. "Captain, you say this holosuite can be programmed for any scenario imaginable. As I said we are at war with a race far more dangerous than the Goa'uld, may I bring a program from my ship to upload into the holocomputer here?" Captain O'Neill looked at the diminutive alien at his side. "I would want my people to look over it first to make sure it is compatible and doesn't pose a risk to my ship."

Thor looked toward the Captain and blinked. "If you wish Captain, but I assure you it is safe and will not cause any harm to your computer system or ship." He held up a small device in his hand and tapped a few commands into it. After it beeped he handed it to the Captain. "The program is downloaded into this device."

Captain O'Neill called one of his computer techs down to the holosuite to check out the program and device. "It looks fine to me Captain, but honestly I can't make heads nor tails of this crystal technology. Scientists have theorized about crystal computer technology but we've never been able to make it work." Ten minutes later (with Thor's help) he was watching a horrific scene while Thor narrated.

"These machines we call Replicators though they are nothing like your food Replicators. They are a highly advanced organism that adapts to our technology faster than we can counter them. Our most powerful weapons have no effect on them."

A scene was playing that showed a blue beam striking a replicator ship and literally having no effect. Another showed the same type of beam but this time striking a bug looking machine on the ground again with absolutely no effect. Captain O'Neill watched scene after scene show planet after planet being abandoned by the Asgard as they were overrun by Replicators.

He thought for a minute more as he watched a ground scene. "Computer, pause program. Remove Asgard weapons and replace with TR-116's and Type 1A and 1B photon rifles. Resume program." The weapons the Asgard were holding shimmered away and were replaced with the weapons the Captain had named.

Thor was slightly impressed as this time each shot shattered Replicators into their base building blocks. The TR-116's seemed to work better as it was basically a rail gun firing a small metal pellet accelerated well past the speed of sound by magnetic fields. The Type 1A and 1B photon rifles were less effective as a majority of their killing power was still energy but the pulse effect still packed quite a bit of kinetic energy as well.

The photon rifles took multiple shots to destroy one Replicator where the TR-116 destroyed them in one shot. "Computer, pause program. Replace photon rifles with TR-116's. Resume program." The effect was devastating. Replicators shattered all around the area, not one survived. "We also have ship based weapons that we no longer use in favor of phasers and torpedoes but we can easily replicate them. We can refit them on your ship in a matter of hours and give you the schematics to not only make your own ship based weapons but the rifles you have just witnessed. I'll also get my people working on a better way to defeat the Replicators on a mass scale."

Thor nodded. "We used weapons like this centuries ago Captain. It never occurred to us to use less sophisticated technology to solve the problem. The Asgard have always sought to increase the sophistication and complexity of our technology."

Thor was actually a bit surprised that a people he had just met would be willing to help him and his people while not asking for anything in return. "Thank you Captain, you don't know what this means to me and my people. As a token of our continued friendship, I have been authorized by the Asgard High Council to offer you the schematics of some of our older hyperdrives. While they are not as fast as the drives we currently use, they are much faster than the Goa'uld hyperdrives. After seeing your technology I believe you will have no trouble building your own and I believe your primitive anti-matter reactors should provide you with enough power to use them. Also here is the coordinates for our homeworld if you feel so inclined to send ships and troops to our aid as well."

Over the next few hours Engineering crews towed the _Beliskner_ to the newly finished dreadnought dock and refitted her with mass drivers and rail guns. They also upgraded (as in frequency modulation not actual power) the shields to a type like Starfleet used that rotated frequencies several times per second as simulations showed this should stop the Replicator projectile used to board the Asgard ships. As a bonus they also added ablative armor to further defend against boarding attempts.

The new shield upgrades were even more powerful on the _Beliskner_ than simulations showed thanks to the higher power output of the Neutrino Ion Reactors the Asgard used. Captain O'Neill had several of the new ships retrofitted with the Asgard hyperdrive, mass drivers, and rail guns so they could assist the Asgard in their war with the Replicators. They were already equipped with the ablative armor and modulated shielding so the refits shouldn't take more than a week for the five _Defiant_ Class and two _Intrepid_ Class cruisers he was refitting.

As Thor prepared to leave Captain O'Neill came to see him off. "Supreme Commander, it's been a pleasure having you here. Just to let you know, I have seven ships currently refitting to the Asgard hyperdrive and the weapons we placed on your ship. It will take about a week to completely refit all seven. Once the refit is complete, they will immediately set course for your homeworld as our first wave to help in the war. They will remain in the Ida galaxy to help you eradicate the Replicators once and for all. As more ships are constructed and our fight with the Goa'uld continues to go well, more ships will be sent to assist. If my people here come up with anything new that will help, I will contact you and immediately transmit whatever they discover."

If Thor had tear ducts, he might have shed a tear. As it was, he simply extended his small hand in friendship. "Thank you Captain O'Neill. You have helped beyond any expectation my people had from any race in the universe. You have earned a place of friendship and the Asgard will never forget what you and your people have done for them." With that the little alien beamed to his ship and jumped to hyperspace in route to the Asgard homeworld.

After the _Beliskner_ left the spacedock it was occupying, the keel of an experimental _Atrox_ Class Heavy Carrier was laid. Captain O'Neill had searched through the data base to find a ship to help counter the vast numbers of Death Gliders that a Ha'tak carried. And even though both Carters were working on designing a carrier, he liked the Atrox design better. He found two such ships. One was in the standard data base the other was buried deep in a file from Section 31.

The one in the standard data base was the _Armitage_ Class Heavy Escort Carrier. It was based off of an _Akira_ hull and could carry a compliment of fifty fighters and other small support vessels. The _Atrox_ was a true Heavy Carrier with a crew of 3,000 including pilots and support crew.

It boasted a compliment of teo-hundred _Stalker_ Class Stealth fighters plus various support vessels. The _Atrox_ didn't exist in his timeline and from what he could tell, had been added to his data base by Section 31 in accordance with the Department of Temporal Sciences. He shook his head at the irony of it. Here he was in an alternate reality in the past and giving them technology even his people didn't posses in their time.

By the end of the week, the System Lords still had not moved against any of the captured systems. But it was only a matter of time. The combined might of the System Lords were amassed in Ba'al's territory adjacent to the systems the UEC had taken from Apophis.

The seven ships that were refitted with the Asgard hyperdrive, mass drivers, and rail guns, finished their quick shakedown and set course for the Asgard homeworld. It would take several weeks for them to reach the Asgard homeworld as Thor had been right. The anti-matter reactors provided adequate power to run the Asgard hyperdrive but it was slower than an Asgard ship. But it was still a lot faster than the Goa'uld hyperdrives. O'Neill had also started a refit on every ship as well to either swap out the hyperdrive or install it from the start on the ships currently building.

Commander Kawalsky had also reported back on what they had found during their scan on Earth. Every bit of Goa'uld technology found was beamed off the planet and brought back to Avalon for further study. They had also found several places that contained Ancient technology. If the tech couldn't be beam up and removed from the planet, teams of researchers were beamed down to secure and study the technology. One such place was apparently an Ancient outpost buried under a mile of ice in the Antarctic.

A living Ancient was also found frozen in the ice in the Antarctic. No one realized she was alive until the research team noticed a very low delta wave reading on their scans. Before she was thawed out, Dr. Frasier detected a plague type virus and had her moved to isolation.

It didn't take long for Janet to figure out the genetic sequence of the plague, as it was remarkably similar to a rare strain of Rigellian Fever and develop a vaccine against it. The only reason that Janet could think of why she was able to solve something a race as advanced as the Ancients could not, was the diversity of species that populated her Universe. It gave her an insight that the Ancients didn't have in this Universe.

A second stargate was found as well as two Jaffa frozen in the ice. Once Janet developed the cure for the plague that had once devastated the Ancients, Ayiana (the young woman frozen in the ice) agreed to go to Avalon and help advance the already incredible technology that Captain O'Neill and his people have gifted the Tau'ri with. Between the Starfleet Universal Translators and Ayiana's highly evolved mind, she learned Standard English very quickly.

During her time at Avalon, Ayiana and Daniel (the Starfleet one) become good friends. He worked on learning the Ancient language from her and he tried to fill her in on the millions of years she lost while she was frozen. "I was left behind when the rest of my people that were not carrying the plague left for the Pegasus galaxy."

She described the vast city ship her people had used to cross to another galaxy in. "We remained in contact for many years until they became involved in a massive war caused by their own mistakes. I have no knowledge of what happened in the war nor who won, if anyone, as I was overcome with the plague and thought I had died. I did not realize I had merely been frozen in the ice."

The Starfleet expedition members were down to three weeks left before they would have to return to their own universe and timeline. The first _Armitage_ Escort carrier was complete and so were several other cruisers. Captain O'Neill assembled a small task force centered around the UEC _Armitage_ that would go to the Pegasus Galaxy and see if any of Ayiana's people were still alive.

Ayiana requested to go with them as she believed she would be an asset to the mission. The depleted ZPM (zero point module) from the Outpost in Antarctica, with Ayiana's help, had begun recharging by using a micro-singularity reactor the Romulans used to power their ships. Also with her help the UEC had managed to replicate ZPM's (uncharged of course) and then charge them in the same way they had begun charging the first one. They had thought of recharging the ZPM's using the warp drive but realized it would take decades to charge ZPM that way.

With Ayiana's help again they built a large fusion reactor to power the Antarctic Outpost. Droves of scientists were pouring over the newly repowered Ancient Outpost in Antarctica studying the small data base in the computers and the drone weapons found there as well. The small task force being sent to the Pegasus Galaxy consisted of the UEC _Armitage_, three _Intrepid_ Class Cruisers, three _Defiant_ Class Escort Cruisers, two _Saber_ Class Light Cruisers, and one _Akira_ Class Battle Cruiser. Ten ships set course for Pegasus and jumped to hyperspace.

**This is a rewrite that I did thanks to someone pointing out a few mistakes I had made with reference to Starfleet technology compared to Asgard and Ancient technology. Thank you SeanKR for educating me and continue to keep me inline please. I have also added more spacing as another review requested. That goes for anyone. If you see something I made a mistake on, please feel free to correct me, just be polite about doing it or you will be ignored. Thanks again and enjoy.**


	4. Chapter 4

**UEC Starbase One**

**In orbit of Avalon**

Captain O'Neill sat in his office looking over the reports on his computer. It had been nearly three weeks since Task Force Pegasus had departed and two weeks since Task Force Ida had left for the Ida galaxy. It had taken each task force just over a week to reach the outer edge of the Milky Way.

Each task force carried over a hundred large subspace relays that were powered by a small fusion reactor. The theory was that each task force would place the relays at regular intervals in the void between galaxies. It was calculated that it would take roughly one hundred relays between the Ida galaxy and the Milky Way. That was only for the void in between though. The UEC should be able to tie into the Asgard network from there so no relays would need to be placed in the Ida galaxy itself.

It was unclear if any of the Alteran network was operational so enough relays were brought to seed all the way to Lantea if needed. After the relays were placed and brought online, the task force would contact Avalon to test the relay. Once the test and progress report were complete, the relays would cloak, and the task force would move on to the next drop point.

The Goa'uld System Lords had continued to consolidate their forces but they had been doing more fighting amongst themselves than trying to attack the UEC holdings. Ba'al had killed Camulus and Ares absorbing their armies and territories.

The Goa'uld still had no way of detecting the cloaking technology the UEC was using. The UEC _Phantom_ under Colonel Lucatero was having a field day. They were destroying antigravity platforms used to build ships, snatching Jaffa out from under the noses of the Goa'uld overseers, and generally wreaking havoc among the forces of the System Lords. It was mostly because of the efforts of the _Phantom _and her crew that the Goa'uld were fighting more with each other than mounting a concentrated attack against the UEC.

Captain O'Neill just hoped they had done enough to save this reality and their own. With the two task forces he had no choice but to send out, he didn't have the ships to mount a decisive attack against the consolidated forces of the remaining System Lords.

That's not quite true, he had the ships, he just didn't have enough experienced crews to man them. The facilities his people had built for the UEC were churning out ships faster than they could crew them. Even figuring in the Tollan, the Langarians, the Pangarans, the Orbanians, Tagreans, and a few others, they still didn't have enough people to crew the amount of starships they were producing.

The icing on the cake though, was that Captain O'Neill and his people that had counterparts here in this universe, had one more day left before they HAD to return to their own reality. Enough of his people that didn't have counterparts in this reality or family in his had decided to stay though.

They didn't have enough to crew all of the ships but they had enough to put at least two or three on each ship to help teach the UEC how to run them. It just took time to get enough of them up to speed to handle an attack against an enemy like the combined System Lords. Time was something O'Neill and his people simply did not have.

**Task Force Pegasus**

**Pegasus Galaxy**

Task Force Pegasus was nearing the last known position of Atlantis on the planet of Lantea. So far long range scans had not revealed much left of Lantean technology so far. Colonel Stephen Caldwell sat in his command chair aboard the UEC _Armitage_ as the task force dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the system.

The task force continued on into the system at impulse while running scans of the entire system. "Colonel, long range scanners are picking up one badly damaged satellite at one of the systems LaGrange Points but we are reading zero power. Sensors are also picking up a crashed ship on the second planet out from the star and possibly another on the ocean floor of Lantea. We'll learn more the closer we get."

The Tactical Officer looked up at Ayiana smiling as she continued her report. "We're also detecting a large shielded area on the ocean floor not far from the crashed ship. The profile of the ship on the ocean floor matches that of a Wraith cruiser. The one on the second planet is close to a Wraith cruiser as well but there are some differences."

Caldwell looked over to Ayiana as well and nodded a silent thank you for her providing the information about the Wraith from the Antarctic Outpost databanks. "Take us into orbit and have the _Thunderchild_ join us. Send the _Bellerophon, Gladius, _and_ Cutlass_ to investigate the ship on the second planet. Have the _Defiants_ cloak and patrol the system. Have _Voyager_ see if she can repair the satellite and get it back online while the_ Pathfinder_ pulls security for them."

Fifteen minutes later Ayiana looked up at Colonel Caldwell. "Colonel, I've tried to calibrate the transporters to allow us to beam someone through the shield. No offense but I don't believe it's possible with your technology. If we want to enter the city, we'll have to find the nearest stargate and dial in from there."

Col. Caldwell thought for a moment. "Hail the _Defiant_ and have her pick up Ayiana and the ZPM then take her to the nearest stargate. I want a full platoon of Marines to go through the gate with her and assist her in any way she needs. I want them to stay cloaked and get back here as soon as the team goes through the gate."

It took the _Defiant_ just over an hour to reach the closest planet with a stargate. After beaming Ayiana and a platoon of Marines to the surface, Captain Jonathan Jones (JJ to his friends) was running a scan of the planet. There were some strange readings coming from some ancient ruins that appeared to be a Lantean city. There was also a small village not far from the gate. He looked over at his coms officer. "Hail Ayiana and let her know about the ruins and the small village."

Ayiana left three squads to guard the gate as she took the fourth with her to the small village. Colonel Marshall Sumner was with the squad escorting Ayiana. He was the commanding officer in charge of the Marine detachment that had been assigned to Task Force Pegasus.

He and an entire Marine Brigade had been assigned to the task force. If he had known they were going to explore an ancient city and meet the locals, he would have brought more Marines. _"Oh well."_ Col. Sumner thought to himself. _"Now days, just one platoon has the firepower that an entire battalion used to have in the old days."_ Each Marine (himself included) in the platoon accompanying him, was wearing Federation Standard Battle Armor.

The Federation Battle Armor was something they had just finished building after their first major battle with the Goa'uld. It was made of a polymer alloy that was lighter than Kevlar, even more bullet resistant, and ten times stronger than the titanium equivalent.

The material had also proven extremely resilient when hit with plasma based weapons such as the Jaffa staff weapon as well. It also had power servos allowing an average person to lift over fifteen times their bodyweight. It was completely self-contained, air and water tight (when the valves were closed), and also carried a three hour oxygen supply in case of emergencies. There was a place to attach external oxygen tanks to vastly increase the supply if needed.

It was cooled and heated as needed, to allow a Soldier to operate comfortably in extreme temperatures on either side of the spectrum. The helmet had a digital Heads Up Display (or HUD) and internal speakers and a microphone to allow constant communication between squad members or an external source. There was also a personal shield generator built into the suit that could withstand multiple direct hits from Jaffa staff weapons, projectile weapons, or something like an AT-4 Rocket.

Weapon load out for the platoon was still the same as they had used during the battle with the Goa'uld except they were now integrated into the HUD of the Battle Armor.

Ayiana and Colonel Sumner met with the leader of the small village. Teyla Emmagan was a beautiful young lady that appeared to lead her people well. She warned them that it was unsafe to go to the city of the Ancestors until Ayiana smiled and told her she WAS one of the Ancestors. So while Ayiana, Colonel Sumner, and a full Marine Squad went to the city to investigate the strange readings the _Defiant_ picked up, Teyla agreed to show Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard the caves her people hid from the Wraith in.

Two hours later, the city search team was returning to the village. The strange readings turned out to be some computer databanks loaded with information about research on the Wraith. They had also found a stash of ZPMs (depleted of course). They were just entering the village when one of the Marines left at the gate radioed Colonel Sumner. "Colonel Sumner, this is Lieutenant Ford. The gate just activated." Ayiana and the Colonel shared a look before he answered. "Roger Lieutenant, I copy the gate just activated. Take cover and be ready for anything that comes through."

A few seconds later they heard the sound of phaser rifles and the heavier squad phaser support weapons firing. Colonel Sumner broke into a run back toward the gate. "Colonel, it's the Wraith! Three darts just came out of the gate but we shot all three down!" Colonel Sumner slowed down and radioed Lt. Colonel Sheppard. "Sheppard did you copy that?"

He heard Sheppard reply back and it sounded like he was running. "Yes Sir, I heard the firing and the explanation. Teyla and I are on our way back to the village now. She says that if those darts don't return back to where they came from, in a few hours this whole planet will be crawling with Wraith! We need to get her people and ours out of here before that happens."

Colonel Sumner started to protest when he caught the look on Ayiana's face. "Colonel, unfortunately he's right. We are not ready to face the Wraith. If what I read off of those computers before I downloaded all of their data and deleted the harddrives is true, we wouldn't stand a chance against them yet. There are just too many of them at the moment." He didn't like it but he knew they were right and he was smart enough to know when he was outmatched.

So over the next thirty minutes, Ayiana dialed Atlantis and took the ZPMs and most of Teyla's people through the gate to Atlantis. The elderly were beamed aboard the _Defiant_ for medical treatment and better protection.

Ayiana's first move the instant she stepped onto Atlantis was to head to the ZPM control room and install the now fully charged ZPM she had brought from Earth. It had taken the scientists most of the trip to charge it but they had managed to do it.

Using just the singularity core they had installed on the _Armitage_ by itself would have taken more than a month. Ayiana had taken a trick out of the Alteran playbook they had used when they built and launched _Destiny_. She had had the _Armitage _skim the corona of several stars before they left the Milky Way and after they had entered the Pegasus galaxy. That had help to cut the charge time of the ZPM in half.

Now that they had the power she needed, Ayiana began running a full diagnostic check of all the systems in the city and going through the logs in the main computer. She used the communications system of the city to contact Colonel Caldwell as the signal from their combadges wouldn't penetrate the shield.

"Colonel Caldwell, this is Ayiana. Can you read me?" She smiled as she heard the Colonel's voice. "Yes Ayiana, I read you loud and clear. Does this mean I can start sending people down?"

Ayiana looked at Colonel Sumner before answering. "Not yet Colonel, I would have to release the clamps holding the city to the ocean floor then drop the shield once the city surfaced. But after the run in we had with the Wraith, I really wouldn't suggest having the city on the surface before we can defend it. We have plenty of power for the shields but I'm afraid the Lanteans used most of the drone weapons during the last part of the siege and without the LaGrange Point Satellite (LGPS) system, we would be pretty much defenseless."

Caldwell thought for a minute. "Wait, did you say satellite system?"

"Yes Colonel. There used to be a fairly large number of satellites placed at every LaGrange Point in this system. It took the Wraith many decades to destroy enough of them to truly threaten the city. Once the satellite system had been destroyed, the Lanteans had no choice but to submerge the city. The Wraith came in too great a number for the city, by itself, to hold them off. The manufacturing facilities for the satellites had been destroyed as well as the shipyards by that point in the war."

Colonel Caldwell made his decision. "Ok Ayiana. We'll keep the city submerged while I get the _Armitage, Thunderchild, _and _Voyager_ busy constructing pulse phaser and torpedo turrets. We can spare some of our torpedo stores to arm the torpedo turrets until Avalon can start sending us replacements."

As an afterthought he continued. "By the way, Marines from the _Gladius_ captured a Wraith alive on the second planet. That ship was a modified cruiser used as a transport to feed the Wraith. It was loaded with stasis cocoons to hold humans in. We have him in the brig with a neural inhibitor on him so he can't telepathically link to the other Wraith. Dr. McKay found they were telepathic from the files you sent back from the database on Athos and we verified that with one of the Betazoids on board."

Ayiana blinked in surprise at that information. "Colonel, that really changes things in a bad way. We need more people here and fast. I am going to dial Avalon and get further instructions. In my opinion now, we need to bring Atlantis to the surface and get to work staffing her. The UEC should have had enough time to charge at least one of the ZPMs even partially. It should be enough for them to dial us and send people and equipment through. I have found a reference in the data base that says it may be possible to cloak the city by interfacing a cloak from the gateships stored here. I'll let you know the final decision."

When the connection closed, the _Armitage, Thunderchild, _and _Voyager _went to work on the defense platforms while Ayiana dialed Avalon. _Voyager_ had repaired the LGPS by replacing the conduits and hull armor that had been severed by Wraith weapons fire and tying in a miniature fusion reactor. Colonel Caldwell knew the satellite would only be good for a few shots at the most as it had no shield. One of the Bajoran engineers thought it would be possible to fit it with shields but the priority was getting the Federation defense turrets built and operational first.

Ayiana punched in the gate address to Avalon with the 8th symbol needed to dial another galaxy. She had always liked the aesthetics of the architecture here in Atlantis. She considered it to be the pinnacle of Alteran knowledge and design. Why the Alterans had built it and entrusted the Lanteans with maintaining it, was still a sore spot for Ayiana even though that had been well over a million years ago.

She hadn't told anyone this but the Lanteans were NOT her people. They were normal humans that the Alterans had altered to be closer to the Alterans but they were most definitely NOT Alteran. Even in the short time she had spent with these modern humans, she had come to see the total arrogance of her people and it seemed to be exponentially increased in the Lanteans. Her people were not warriors and had never really fought real wars. They hadn't even tried to fight the Ori when the Ori were trying to completely exterminate them. Instead of fighting the Ori, they had simply packed up and left their home galaxy.

Now, enter the Lanteans and they had continued along the exact same lines of the Alterans. They too had never fought a real war so when the Wraith turned on them and attacked, they had tried fight to back but they really didn't know what they were doing. The Lanteans had massively superior technology (thanks to the Alterans) but didn't know how to use tactics to turn that technology into an advantage over the sheer numbers the Wraith threw at them.

So in the end instead of adapting and learning how to fight the Wraith, they did what their "creators" had done before them and ran. These modern humans she had observed would not run and if they did, it would only be temporarily. In the end they would adapt, come up with new strategies, and come back stronger than they had left. Just look at the Starfleet personnel if you needed real proof. They had not only gone back in time but had gone to a different reality to defeat a dangerous threat against them. Ayiana looked around her and felt hope for the first time since she had watched Atlantis leave Earth so many centuries ago. These new humans were aggressive but smart as well.

They had fought constant wars with each other throughout their history and were taking the fight to the Goa'uld and were winning. With the help of Starfleet they were winning anyways. But Starfleet hadn't helped or even came to help at the time when Lt. Colonel Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson had managed to kill Ra. They had a very good chance of succeeding where not only her people but the Lanteans had failed. _"With the proper guidance of course."_ She thought to herself.

The classic "whoosh" of the gate activating brought her back to the present. She blinked her eyes and focused before speaking. "Avalon base, this is Ayiana. Can you read me?" She paused for a minute and was about to ask the question again. "Ayiana, this is Avalon base. We read you five by five." She heard Colonel O'Neill reply. Ayiana realized she was holding her breath and breathed out forcefully.

"It's good to hear your voice Colonel. As you can see we found Atlantis but neither the Lanteans nor any of my people were here when we arrived. I'm sending you the summary of what we have found and accomplished. I'll let you read the report rather than getting into too much detail. To make a long story short, I believe we need at least a couple Infantry Brigades and as many scientists as you can get clearance for as soon as you can send them. The race that the Lanteans were at war with is still around and we have encountered them already. Even with the task force we have here, we would be hard pressed to defend the city if the Wraith came at us in force. That's the basic gist of the problem and I will let you learn the rest from the report."

"Wait? Did you just say neither Lanteans nor your people? I thought the Lanteans were your people?" Colonel O'Neill asked in confusion.

Ayiana sighed. She hadn't meant to reveal that just yet, she had just let it slip in her excitement. "Yes Colonel, I did. I hadn't meant to reveal that just yet as I was still feeling you and your people out when we left for Pegasus. But the Lanteans are not my people. My people are the Alterans or Ancients as you know them. We genetically enhanced the Lanteans to be more like us when a lot of my people began ascending. We were growing smaller in number every day and needed someone to carry on our legacy, so we created the Lanteans."

Captain O'Neill and General Hammond had walked up behind Colonel O'Neill while Ayiana was giving the basics of their progress. General Hammond immediately called Master Sergeant Walter Perryman to bring him the appropriate paperwork to sign to get the ball rolling. "Ayiana, we'll discuss the difference between Lanteans and your people later. Right now reinforcing your position there is my top priority. It will take time to get two Infantry Brigades spooled up and sent to you. I can get you a Marine Infantry Battalion and a Navy Seabee Battalion. We can have them geared up and through the gate in twelve hours. Will that be soon enough?"

Ayiana smiled. "Yes Sir and thank you for being understanding. We should be able to make it twelve hours with what we have. We found Atlantis on the ocean floor under her shield. We have plenty of power to keep it here but to bring troops from the ships we would either have to bring the city to the surface and drop the shield or they would have to travel to the closest planet and gate in."

General Hammond and the two O'Neills had a small discussion before Hammond made his decision. "Do you feel it's safe to surface the city Ayiana?"

Ayiana nodded. "Yes Sir, at least for the time being. I believe it is possible to tie a gateship cloak into the cities shields and cloak the city. If the Wraith do show up, the city would be hidden and the task force would be able to concentrate on taking the fight to the Wraith instead of worrying about protecting the city. Granted the shield could hold off anything the Wraith threw at it but I would rather not take that chance. Especially since our drone reserve is down to barely a few dozen."

She paused and wrinkled her brow in thought. "You know, for being as advanced and smart as my people were, why did we rely on just drone weapons? Why did we give our up directed energy weapons in favor of nothing but drones?" General Hammond just chuckled. "I'm not sure about that myself. But you do have to admit your drones are very effective."

Ayiana had to agree up to a point. "Yes General, they are very effective. But when you run out, you're screwed basically. With energy weapons as long as you have a power source, you can continue to fight. I think I remember something in the database that we can definitely use to supplement the drones and Starfleet weapons."

Captain O'Neill said something quietly to General Hammond then took a step forward as General Hammond nodded his approval. "Ayiana, I just wanted to say thank you for all of your help. My people and I are out of time and we must return to our own reality and timeline. I wish there was more we could do before we left but we will have to leave all of this in your hands. I feel much more comfortable knowing you will be here to help and guide these people in the right direction. You won't have to do it alone though. Over one hundred of my people have made the decision to stay here and continue the work we started. They will back you and support you as much as you need them too. Thank you again for all you have done."

Ayiana felt a lump grow in her throat. "No. Thank you Captain. Without you taking the dangerous risk of coming here in the first place, none of this would have been possible. Apophis would have conquered Earth, Ba'al would have gotten his hands on the mirror, and I would have remained frozen in the ice of Antarctica for eternity most likely, or at least until Sol went nova and vaporized me." She added to try and add a bit of levity to the depressing situation.

Ayiana looked directly at Captain O'Neill. "I'll have all your people that came with the task force assembled and standing by in one hour Captain. You know, just in case any of them change their minds and want to go home or just so they can say their good-byes if they choose." Jack wasn't expecting that but was very grateful for the gesture. "Thank you Ayiana. Thank you very much." With that the gate shut off.

All of the Starfleet personnel that had joined Task Force Pegasus chose to stay and help the people of this reality. The only one that had joined them that had to leave was Starfleet's Dr. Jackson. But every single one of them was standing by an hour later to say good-bye to their friends. Most also knew they had a fighting chance here but if their plan didn't work, they didn't want to face the reality they would return too. Here, they could make a difference. If their plan failed, they had already lost the war back home then.

Ayiana walked out to the balcony to enjoy some fresh air after she had said a quiet good-bye to her friend Dr. Jackson. She wanted some time to think and let the Starfleet personnel have some time to say their good-byes in private. She had released the clamps holding the city to the ocean floor as soon as she closed the gate and warned the people in the city. She didn't want anyone to lose their balance and fall when the city headed for the surface. As soon as Atlantis broke the surface and stabilized, she dropped the shields and personnel began transporting down from the task force.

She immediately began assigning teams to get the city up and running to prepare for the reinforcements that would be on their way soon. Ayiana knew the layout of the city, well at least when it had left Earth she did. The Lanteans had modified a few sections here and there. Each team had at least one member that could operate the Alteran equipment. Her orders were simple. Use the hand held scanners and search the city for anything useful or anything that might be deemed dangerous. If anything was found they didn't understand or they believed dangerous, Ayiana herself would come down herself.

After the Starfleet personnel had said their good-byes, supplies began pouring through the gate. Anti-grav sleds and pallets loaded with photon and quantum torpedoes were first through and they were immediately beamed aboard the ships of the task force to replenish their stores they had used to fill the automated defense turrets with.

Next through was food and medical supplies that were carted away to storage lockers and medbay. Even though they had matter replicators, it was easier for Avalon to use the industrial replicators to save energy from the task force ships. At least until they got their own industrial replicator out of the _Armitage's_ hanger more supplies would come through with the two Battalions that were scheduled to come through in eleven more hours.

Ayiana was a bit puzzled as she found a ZPM factory deep in the bowels of the city but she was confused as to how the Lanteans were charging the ZPMs after they were made. She began searching through the data base to find how they were charging them. Originally before the war began to turn against them, Atlantis had an orbital station in the corona of the sun that charged the ZPMs. When the war heated up and the Wraith laid siege to Atlantis, the station had been cloaked and abandoned.

Ayiana was confused. _"If it was cloaked and abandoned in the corona, wouldn't it have been destroyed without the shield?"_ She thought to herself. So she kept digging until she found what she wanted. She immediately hailed Colonel Caldwell. "Colonel Caldwell, I need you to send one of your ships toward the sun and scan for this frequency I'm sending to you now."

Colonel Caldwell immediately forwarded the frequency to the _Gladius_. The _Gladius_ turned and headed toward the sun at full impulse. Caldwell turned back to Ayiana. "So what did I just send them to look for?" He could tell Ayiana was excited about something. "If I'm right and they detect that frequency, it will mean there is a cloaked platform that is inside the corona."

Now it was Caldwells turn to be confused. "Ok, I'm confused. How could the platform have survived with its shield converted to a cloak?"

Ayiana grinned from ear to ear. "That's what I thought at first too Colonel. Then I did some more digging through the database. If I'm right, it isn't cloaked. It's been taken out of phase with this reality! If the _Gladius_ detects the frequency I sent you, then it should be a simple matter to adjust one of the gateships to that frequency and dock with the platform. Then once I'm on the platform, the gateship can return to normal space and I power the shield and bring the platform back into phase as well."

Caldwell still looked a bit confused so Ayiana decided to enlighten him. "Colonel, if the platform exists, it will probably have at least one charged ZPM maybe more. And if they Lanteans removed all of the ZPMs, well then we can charge the ones I found here a lot faster." She said with a sly smile.

Colonel Caldwell's face lit up then. "What? What do you mean that you found?"

Ayiana couldn't help but laugh. "I found a working ZPM factory in Atlantis. There were dozens of completed ZPMs but none of them are charged. If the platform exists, depending on how many charger bays it has, we can begin charging them immediately."

Now Stephen was interested. "What about the ZPMs you helped us replicate?" Ayiana smiled. "Those will be handy. No offense, but your technology isn't nearly as efficient as ours. The ones we replicated might be good to supplement power to your ships. But they would probably last only about a tenth of the time that the Alteran made ZPMs will."

Before he could answer, Colonel Caldwell was interrupted by the comsystem beeping. He looked away for a bit and then turned back to Ayiana with a big grin on his face. "Well, it looks like you were right. The _Gladius_ just hailed us and they detected your frequency at these coordinates." He said as he sent her the coordinates.

Ayiana grinned even bigger. "I'll have Rodney and John help me load as many ZPMs onto a gateship as possible. Then I'll take it to the platform and match frequencies and see if we find any goodies." With that she closed the channel and called Lt. Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay.

An hour later, Ayiana, Lt. Col Sheppard, and Dr. McKay were approaching the coordinates where they would go out of phase and dock with the ZPM platform. It normally would have taken them several hours to make the trip on the "Jumper" as Sheppard was calling the gateship. Ayiana had cheated a bit and had landed the jumper in the shuttlebay of the _Gladius_ and had them go to warp and drop them off.

Sheppard and McKay had been arguing about what to call the gateship and Ayiana was having a blast listening to them argue. She had Sheppard take over the controls since he had a large amount of Lantean or Alteran DNA (or the ATA gene as Dr. Beckett called it). She wasn't sure which he had as the Alterans had used part of their own DNA to help enhance the Lanteans so they could use the Alteran technology. She would have to look into that later.

At the moment she was making the final adjustments to the field coils that would take the jumper out of phase. A few more seconds and she had the frequency of the jumper matched perfectly to that of the ZPM platform. "Ok John, activate it and let's hope I got it right." She said as she winked at Sheppard. Sheppard knew there was no way she would tell him to activate the coils unless she was absolutely sure they were matched precisely. She was just messing with Rodney's paranoia and it worked perfectly.

"What? What do you mean if you got it right?" Rodney whined as the jumper shifted phase. Sure enough, just inside the corona of the sun they could see the ZPM platform.

"Oh, that's not good." Ayiana said as she surveyed the weapons damage on the side of the platform. "Good thing you brought along the EVA suit Rodney. It looks like I'll need it. John, it looks like the docking ring is undamaged. That's it just below and to the right of the damage. Go ahead and ease up there and dock while I get the suit on."

John stood up and faced her. "You dock, I'll get the suit on and go across. You are too valuable to take a chance on losing."

Ayiana put her hands on her hips. "Oh? And I suppose you are more expendable than I am?"

John look at her calmly. "As a matter of fact that's exactly my point Ayiana. You are the last living Alteran in existence as far as we know. Your knowledge and skills are far more important to the survival of mankind than mine are. I'll figure it out. I'm good with fixing things."

Rodney snorted. "No. You're good at breaking things. But in a good way!" He added quickly as Sheppard turned on him. "Oh, why do I let myself get into these situations." He was heard mumbling to himself. "Look. We all know how this is going to work out. Ayiana can't go because she is too valuable to the human race. Sheppard can't go because he's much better at destroying things than fixing them and a better pilot to boot. I'll go."

Ayiana started to protest but she knew she wouldn't win this one. They considered her completely irreplaceable. "Fine Rodney. But take a microprobe (kino) so if anything goes wrong I can at least help walk you through it." She took another kino and programmed a message into it to explain the situation to Colonel Caldwell. She added a time delay to it so that it would clear the heat of the sun before it reverted back to normal phase and launched it toward Atlantis.

"Oh this is not good. Not good at all. Ayiana, are you getting this? This place is a wreck and I don't think I can fix it without major parts and time here." Ayiana moved the kino to get a better view of the inside of the platform. Lying on the floor near Rodney was a mummified Lantean. She must have been on the station when it was attacked and lost its shield. She was able to activate the phase shift before she died thus saving the station from total destruction.

"Rodney, you're right, there is no way to repair it from here right now. But if what I'm seeing and reading from the kino scans, there is still enough power to activate the maneuvering thrusters and move the station out of the corona. Once out, we can extend the jumpers shield around the station and bring both back into phase. Then the _Gladius_ or another ship should be able to tractor the station to Atlantis. It won't take long at all to repair it once it's in a stable orbit."

Rodney thought about it. "Yeah, yeah that will work. I would suggest moving the jumper away to a safe distance first. I'm not sure how good of a driver I'll be."

Sheppard looked over to Ayiana who nodded. Sheppard then closed the rear hatch and moved a hundred meters to the side of the station. Rodney managed to get the power rerouted to the thrusters.

"Easy does it Rodney. Start slow at like point five percent reverse thrust. I don't want to take a chance on putting too much stress on the super structure. All we need you to do is back it straight out away from the sun. There's no need to try and steer it anywhere, just bring it straight back."

She watched anxiously as the sensors showed the thrusters fire a short blast. Sheppard looked up. "Nothing happened. It wasn't a long enough burn. Rodney, you're going have to give it a longer burn than that. Try a three second burn at the same power."

Rodney punched in a few more commands then hit the thrusters again. This time they lit up for a full three seconds. The station started a slow drift away from the sun. Since it was out of phase, the gravitational pull was greatly reduced. So once the station started moving it continued on its own inertia. Rodney tapped a few more commands in and the thrusters started firing at ten second intervals and stayed firing for exactly one second.

The station started to slowly pick up speed at a very steady rate. "Easy now Rodney. Don't get it moving too fast. It might tear itself apart when you try to stop it." Ayiana suggested.

"My plan is not to try to stop it at all with the thrusters. I hope to get it moving enough so that when I bring it back into phase, the _Gladius_ can help stabilize the structural integrity with her tractor beam. Then once the integrity is stable, she can tow it back to Atlantis and beam me aboard or back to the jumper."

Ayiana and Sheppard looked at each other mildly impressed with Rodney's idea. "Sounds like a plan Rodney. We'll continue to monitor your progress from here."

It took about thirty minutes for the ZPM platform to reach a safe enough distance to allow Sheppard to expand the shields of the jumper around it. Once the shield was expanded and stable, Rodney had Sheppard bring the jumper back into phase. When the phase shift was complete, Rodney brought the station back into phase as well.

The _Gladius_ was standing by and had Sheppard drop his shields on a precise count. The nanosecond the station was no longer protected by the jumper's shield, Rodney was transported to the jumper and the _Gladius _locked a tractor beam on the ZPM station and went to impulse back towards Atlantis.

While Task Force Pegasus was working to recover the ZPM station, back in the Milky Way the _Ascension_ had just jumped into hyperspace in route to the system they originally entered this reality in. They could have just opened a dimensional rift near Avalon but Captain O'Neill didn't want to risk it. He only hoped that what they had done here would be enough to save both realities and not come back to bite them in the ass later down the line. Their first priority when they returned home was to find that damn quantum mirror on their side and destroy it too.

**Back in the Pegasus Galaxy**

Ayiana, McKay, Dr. Radek Zelenka, and the UEC engineers had been hard at work on getting the ZPM charging station repaired. They had the hull sealed and pressurized and life support working but that was all so far.

There were other groups scattered about the system and city working on projects of their own. Martouf and Alwin (the two Tok'ra assigned to the _Voyager_) along with the Chief Engineer, B'Elanna Torres had installed a Starfleet shield generator on the single LGPS. They had brought one of the pulse cannons from the crashed Wraith supply ship to test it with. After several attempts, the team was able to find a frequency modulation that severely limited the effectiveness of the Wraith pulse cannon. It was unknown if the Wraith had upgraded their current weapons so this was only a temporary advantage in everyone's mind.

After getting the LGPS up and running, they began using the large industrial replicator the _Armitage _had brought with it to begin replicating parts to build more LGPS. The replicator had been transported to the South pier of Atlantis.

As they finished a part, the_ Voyager _would beam it into orbit where engineers in EVA suits would weld it into place on a growing LGPS. It was slow work but worth it if they could get at least one LGPS to each LaGrange point in the system. There were already at least half a dozen pulse phaser and torpedo turrets at each point to supplement the LGPS' when they were complete. The engineers were adding a shield generator from the start this time.

When the _Armitage_ had cleared its flight deck of the replicator, UEC Command had begun shipping more _Valkyrie _class fighters through the gate in pieces. Once through the gate, the pieces were beamed to the East pier where another team of engineers were assembling the fighters.

As each fighter was completed, a pilot would fly it around the system to make sure everything was working correctly then land on the _Armitage._ It took a week to get all of the fighters assembled and shuttled to the _Armitage _but again it was worth it. At the end of the week the _Armitage_ had a full complement of fifty _Valkyrie_ class fighters in its carrier module. It already had its normal complement of ten warp capable shuttlecraft and fifty work bees in the shuttlebay.

At the same time as the last fighter was sent to the _Armitage_, Ayiana and her team had finished repairing the ZPM station. All six charging stations were filled with a ZPM then the station was towed back to the sun with a jumper docked to it already. Once the station was close enough, Ayiana activated the shields and moved the station back into the corona. When the ZPMs began to show they were charging, Ayiana made sure the command link to Atlantis was functioning. She wanted to be able to take the station out of phase from Atlantis thus eliminating keeping someone either on the station itself or a jumper close enough to reach it in case of attack.

Attack from the Wraith was a very real and dangerous possibility and she wanted to be ready when it happened. She knew it was going to happen, just not when it was going to happen. The two Battalions that General Hammond had promised were settled in and lending a hand where needed. Most of the city had been explored and secured when Ayiana got word that General Hammond wanted to talk to her. _"Uh oh, maybe I should have told them about the difference between the Lanteans and Alterans from the start."_ She thought to herself as she headed toward the Control Room.

It only took Ayiana a few minutes to get to the Control Room. When she arrived, she saw Colonel Sumner, Lt. Colonel Sheppard, Rodney, and an Auburn haired lady she didn't know standing to the side talking quietly. Colonel Sumner noticed her first. "Ayiana, glad you made it so quickly. Let me introduce you to Dr. Elizabeth Weir, your new assistant and Atlantis' new diplomatic attaché."

Ayiana stood there stunned for a second as the Auburn haired lady approached her and extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you finally Ayiana. I've read everything on you and Colonel Sumner and Lt. Colonel Sheppard have been filling me on the accomplishments you've achieved since offering your services to the UEC. And I believe congratulations are in order."

Ayiana was still speechless trying to figure out what was going on when Sheppard stepped up and whistled softly in her ear. She snapped out of it shaking her head and blinking to everyone's amusement. "Thank you Doctor, though I'm not sure what I'm being congratulated on. It's nice to meet you too."

That's when she heard General Hammond's voice in the background. "Ayiana, we've discussed it with the President and the Joint Chiefs. We feel in light of your accomplishments and of Captain O'Neill's parting words to you, that you would be the perfect choice to command the Pegasus Expedition." He paused and smiled at her.

"Thank you Sir and I accept. But what about me holding back the information about the Lanteans and my people? I figured when I was told you wanted to talk to me, that I was in trouble?"

General Hammond laughed softly. "No, you're not in trouble. Yes we were a bit disappointed you withheld information from us but it has been decided that your talents, knowledge of the technology, and your expertise are more valuable than a minor gaffe. Let's just not let that happen again in the future shall we?"

"Yes Sir, I mean no Sir, I mean... I mean I won't let it happen again. I will be completely forthcoming and open from now on. And I will serve the UEC to the best of my ability. Thank you again Sir."

"Don't mention it Young Lady and let's win this thing." He said with pride. "Ok, now that the promotion is out of the way, time to get your next orders. We need to find any other salvageable Alteran or Lantean technology that might still be around. I also need either you Ayiana or for you to pick someone to sort through the database there and look for anything the Asgard can use against the Replicators. They met Task Force Ida and towed them to their homeworld. So far all our combined forces have been able to do is stop the Replicators from advancing further. We need a way to beat them once and for all."

Ayiana turned to Rodney. "Rodney, I want you in charge of that. Pick you a team and get to work as quickly as possible. Let me know the minute think you have something that might work." With that Rodney called Dr. Zelenka, Martouf, and Alwin to meet him at his lab. Ayiana turned back to General Hammond who was smiling at her.

"I knew you were the right person for the job." He said with pride again. "Ok, we also need to know what the Wraith are doing. We all know they could attack Atlantis any moment and we need to be ready." Now it was Ayiana's turn to smile.

"Colonel Caldwell and Colonel Sumner are already ahead of you on that Sir. Colonel Caldwell has the _Defiant, Valiant, _and the_ Sao Paulo_ out scouting Athos and the surrounding star systems for any sign of them approaching Atlantis. They did swarm Athos as Teyla suggested they would but after that they have mostly pulled back. I think they are confused as to how their darts were destroyed and Teyla's people vanished.

I also have the deep space scanners up and running from the city. We've seeded cloaked sensor arrays twenty light-years out all around the system. Colonel Sumner has fire teams of Marines scouting through the stargate using the personal cloaking devices Section 31 developed. We'll know if they make a move our way Sir."

General Hammond was still smiling. "You've got a good team there Ayiana. Take care of them and they'll take care of you. One more thing and I'll let you get to work." He paused and took a deep breath.

Tomorrow morning the Advance Party (Advon) for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 5th Pangaran Infantry Division will arrive at 0800 hours your time. Over the next several days, the rest of the Brigade will arrive. After they are settled in, the 2nd Ranger Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord will arrive. Sorry I couldn't get two full Infantry Brigades but 2nd Ranger Bat is among the best the US Army has to offer. There are few that could give them a run for their money."

He then looked straight at Colonel Sumner. "We'll be sending our newest equipment through to fully outfit 2nd Bat and the Pangaran BCT. It will be your Brigades job to get them up to speed Colonel Sumner."

"Yes Sir, can do General." Colonel Sumner replied proudly. Ayiana faced the General. "Sir? Any word on the Goa'uld? How is the fight with them going?" She was a little surprised and worried at the same time when she saw the General frown and his brow furrow.

"Well, it hasn't Ayiana. We've been carrying out covert attacks throughout their territories with the UEC _Shadow_ and several other stealth cruisers. But it appears the Goa'uld are fighting a new enemy that is giving them some real trouble. From what Tok'ra intelligence can gather, a former System Lord named Anubis has risen from obscurity and has somehow gained tremendous power. We are working on getting more information but it's risky. He has somehow found a way to detect our stealth cruisers and we lost the UEC _Shade_ when she tried to get close to one of his bases."

"Sir, I can send the _Armitage_ and the cruisers back if you need the extra firepower. With the pulse phaser turrets, the torpedo turrets, the LGPS we are building, and the city herself we can handle anything the Wraith throw at us." Ayiana offered.

General Hammond shook his head. "No Ayiana. You keep the task force there. I know you could survive without them but I don't want you just to survive and the President and Joint Chiefs agree. We want you to take the fight to them and not just hold out like the Lanteans did. To win a war you must attack, always attack. Well at least that was General George S. Patton's philosophy. It served him well all through World War II. Find their weak point Ayiana. If anyone can, it will be your and your team. Good luck and Gods Speed, Hammond out."

Ayiana felt her heart fill with pride as she turned to her team. Her team, she liked that. She liked that a lot. "Ok, you heard the General. Let's get cracking folks. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. Do any of you need anything from me?" When everyone shook their heads she continued. "Well ok, John would you show Dr. Weir to her quarters please? I'm going to sift through the deep space scans and some of the database to see if I can locate any possible technology left by the Lanteans."

An hour later Ayiana was rubbing her eyes from staring at the readouts on her screen when Teyla knocked on her door. "Ancestor, can I speak with you?"

Ayiana stood up. "Teyla of course you can speak with me. My door is always open to you and your people." Teyla smiled and dipped her head respectfully. "Thank you Ancestor, we greatly appreciate it." Ayiana frowned. "Ok, I know I am Alteran and your people revere us as Gods. Teyla, we are not Gods. We are as human as you are. Just a few years older is all. In time, your people will develop similar abilities as mine did. I know this to be a fact Teyla. Some of you already have to an extent."

Teyla looked up in shock. "What do you mean, to an extent?" Ayiana smiled. "Teyla, I'm Alteran. I can sense your heightened sense of awareness the same as you have been able to sense the Wraith since childhood." Teyla was actually speechless. "Yes Anc... Ayiana. I have been able to sense the Wraith since childhood. Many of my people have this ability."

Ayiana leaned forward. "I know. There are many things that your people can do other than sense the Wraith. In time, I will help you master those and develop even more. The Lanteans should have done that centuries ago but they followed in the footsteps of my people. With the help of our new friends, we will repair the damage that 10,000 years of neglect has wrought on this galaxy."

Teyla was again speechless. Ayiana sensed this and spoke again. "What did you want to discuss Teyla? I'm sorry I distracted you from your original purpose of coming to see me." Teyla relaxed a little and started to speak.

"My people are grateful for your assistance in protecting us from the Wraith. But we feel useless here in your city. Several of us have discussed settling on the mainland and beginning anew. We are farmers and traders and would like to help pull our own weight." Colonel Sumner had been standing in the hallway listening. "I believe I can help with part of that Ma'am." He said as he addressed both Ayiana and Teyla.

"Come in Colonel. Have a seat and we'll work this out together. What do you have in mind?" Colonel Sumner didn't waste any time.

"Well, since here people are traders and they know this galaxy much better than we do, I would like Teyla to join Lt. Col. Sheppard's team as sort of our liaison for this galaxy." Teyla blinked before accepting. "I would be honored to be your liaison in this galaxy Colonel." Ayiana smiled. "Well that's settled. As for you people settling on the mainland, I'm sure we can work out a mutually beneficial agreement."

"Thank you Ayiana and Colonel." She said as she stood up to leave. Before she could make it too the door, a fast paced beeping sounded from Ayiana's computer. Ayiana blinked in surprise. "Humph, well what do you know? The ship tracking database has found four Aurora Class Alteran battleships. Well two actually. There are two different types it seems. One more closely resembles the Alteran Aurora and the other seems to be a smaller version. Not much smaller mind you. The larger is 3,500 meters and the other is only 500 meters shorter."

Colonel Sumner's eyes and face lit in excitement. "3,500 and 3,000 meters? Those are huge!" Ayiana laughed. "Yes Colonel they are. But they are also extremely powerful and can handle several Wraith hive ships by themselves." She studied the readings again before getting up and going to the Control Room with both Colonel Sumner and Teyla following.

When she got to the Control Room, she entered a few commands into the console controlling the deep space scanners. The scanners focused on each ship for a few seconds before moving to the next. "Ok, this is interesting. The closest seems to be in an underground Lantean hanger about a day's journey from here." She looked over to the technician at communications. "Hail Colonel Caldwell please?" She asked.

A few seconds later she hears Colonel Caldwell's voice. "This is Caldwell, what can I do for you Director? And congratulations by the way." Ayiana smiles at him. Why thank you Colonel, I really appreciate that. I need to borrow the _Gladius _and _Cutlass._ We've located a Lantean warship and I would like to take a couple of engineer teams and see if we can get it operational. I actually located four of them but this one is the closest. There is a stargate on the planet but I would rather have a couple of starships there for obvious reasons."

Colonel Caldwell thought for a bit. "You're the Boss Director, but might I suggest taking a team of engineers and a platoon of Marines through the gate while the ships are in transit?" Colonel Sumner stepped forward. "I agree with Colonel Caldwell. Let's dial the gate first and send a kino through to see what we might be facing. Then if it looks promising, we send the ships while we take a team through the gate."

Ayiana smiled and nodded her head. "General Hammond is right. We do have a good team here and we take care of each other. Ok, we'll do it your way Colonel. My people's way didn't work so well and the Lanteans made the same mistakes we did. Might as well try a different way of thinking and maybe I'll get it right with your help." Ayiana turns to order a kino and finds the technician standing in front of her holding a kino and remote.

Ayiana smiles. "Thank you Mr. Tanner. Now could you please dial these coordinates?" Tim Tanner smiles back at his Boss. "Yes Ma'am and it's just Tim please. Being called Mister makes me feel old." He said with a sly smile as he pressed the corresponding keys matching the coordinates. When the classic whoosh of the gate activating died down, Ayiana sent the kino through the event horizon of the open stargate.

An hour later Ayiana, Dr. McKay, Colonel Sumner, and Lt. Col. Sheppard were stepping out of the gate on Taranis. She had only brought a small group as Chancellor Lycus had assured her there was no need for a platoon of Marines. Neither Colonel Sumner nor Colonel Caldwell liked the decision but both followed her orders. Colonel Caldwell changed his a bit though by sending _Voyager_ with _Gladius_ instead of sending the _Cutlass._ He explained to Ayiana that _Voyager _had larger replication facilities if the battleship needed major repair. She had agreed and went with his choice.

"Director Ayiana, welcome to Taranis. We didn't know there were other people as technologically advanced as we are out there." He was a politician through and through and Ayiana disliked politicians.

She smiled sweetly though and shook his hand. She cheated a bit once her skin came in contact with his and he knew instantly he had made a mistake. Chancellor Lycus instantly went to his knee. "Ancestor. We are honored by your return." His people duplicated his kneeling before Ayiana released his hand. Colonel Sumner eased closer to her and whispered in her ear. "Are we going to run into this everywhere we take you?" He asked sarcastically.

Ayiana sighed. "Probably. Apparently the Lanteans went out of their way to instill this type of behavior in the humans of this galaxy." She shook her head and helped Chancellor Lycus to his feet. "Chancellor, please stop this. I'm as human as you are just a lot older. Your people as I have told the Athosians, will one day evolve to be as I am with the proper guidance. We are here to fight the Wraith and fix the mistakes the Lanteans made before they abandoned you and the rest of the people of this galaxy. We want your people by our sides and we will help you in any way we can."

After Ayiana had finished her little speech, Chancellor Lycus put on his best politicians smile. "Yes Ancestor, we understand."

Ayiana rolled her eyes. "Oi, this is going to take awhile." She went on to explain the key systems of the Lantean outpost to the lead Taranian scientist who Rodney couldn't stop drooling over. She explained to the Chancellor that two starships were on the way to help get the Lantean Battleship, the _Hippaforalkus,_ repaired and launched. "We aren't stealing it from you Chancellor, we want your people crewing it as well."

Again that cheesy politicians smile. "Director Ayiana. The ship is yours anyway. We will be happy to help you crew it but it belongs to the Ancestors and that would be you." Ayiana restrained her sigh and smiled. "Thank you Chancellor. I promise you that neither you nor your people will regret making that choice. Would you be so kind as to give us a tour of the hangar?"

The Chancellor looked mildly confused. "By all means Director, but I assumed you knew where to find it." An honest mistake. "Chancellor. This outpost was actually built by the Lanteans, not the Alterans. The Lanteans you could call, our children, your older siblings basically. This is my first time visiting this galaxy."

She explained. Chancellor Lycus accepted that and continued. "Then if you'll follow me, I'll happily show you the way." They made small talk on the way to the hanger. But when Chancellor Lycus opened the doors and Ayiana stepped through, she knew they had just possibly found the answer to one of their biggest problems in the Pegasus galaxy.

Sitting in front of them in all its majestic glory was not only a Lantean Battleship but further in the distance was a set of large hanger doors that only Ayiana knew was the outer doors to a shipyard. This was not only a hanger but if the shipyard was intact, it was a way to build more Auroras and other Alteran ships. Colonel Sumner saw her face and knew something was up. "Ayiana? Are you alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Ayiana spotted what she wanted and explained. "Colonel, do you see those large doors at the very back of the hanger?" Colonel Sumner looked at the exact spot she was pointing. "Yes Ma'am I do. But I don't understand why the doors out of the hanger would excite you this much." Ayiana laughed. "No Colonel, those aren't the doors to get the ship out of the hanger, those are." She said as she pointed up at the ceiling of the hanger. Then she pointed back at the doors to the rear of the hanger. "If I'm right. Those are the doors to an Alteran shipyard." As she moved toward the control panel she had spotted earlier.

**Well there's chapter four. Sorry it's taken so long but things have been a bit crazy here in Kuwait with everything going on in Iraq. I'll try to get Chapter five out quicker than this one but it is still pretty busy around here. I'm also trying to work on an actual story I would like to publish and not just on a fan fiction site. I'm also happily helping L4oftheWest as his Beta. Well hope you enjoy and I tried to incorporate all the previous reviews to make this chapter better. Any constructive criticism is appreciated. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I was reading through this again to get new ideas on where I wanted to go with the story and was appalled at the number of mistakes I found. Granted it was mostly spacing behind words in italic but still. So this is basically an edit for mistakes. I will be coming out with Book 2 of the story soon. I have a few ideas on the direction I want to go.**

**Underground Hanger**

**Taranis**

Ayiana made her way to the control panel to the side of the large doors at the rear of the hanger. She really wasn't expecting the sight that met her eyes when the doors began to part slowly. Out of respect to Ayiana, everyone including the Taranians waited for Ayiana to be the first to see what was inside.

"Oh my….. That's not what I was expecting." Sitting on powered down anti-grav lifts, was an almost complete, brand spanking new Aurora Class Battleship, the 3,500 meter long version. But this had some modifications already in place. Colonel Sumner walked up beside Ayiana. "Are those what I think they are?" He asked pointing to the four large tubes on a turret on the underside of the hull and other three barreled turrets bristling all over the hull.

"Those are the pulse cannons we used on the _Destiny_ Battleships and the Gate Seed ships millions of years ago. I had no idea the Lanteans had been given access to them because at the time, we thought them to be obsolete. There are more turrets that are two barreled and should be retracted into the hull if they used the same designs as _Destiny._"

Rodney stepped closer to listen to her explanation. "Um, you keep saying _Destiny_ and now Gate Seed ships? What do you mean?" Ayiana laughed softly. "I forget you haven't had the chance to sort through all of our history. When we first arrived in your galaxy millions of years ago, we built massive ships that used a type of FTL very similar to the Federation Warp Drive, to seed stargates throughout the universe."

She paused to let that sink in. "We hadn't developed hyperdrive so we used what we had. We sent those ships on a course that would take them from galaxy to galaxy in search of planets that could support life and place a stargate on them. To explore the planets where the Seed Ships created and seeded stargates, we created the _Destiny _Class Battleship and sent it on a course following the Seed Ships. The plan was to board the _Destiny_ after it reached a sufficient distance from Earth. We got a bit sidetracked as we were well known to do. Sometimes I wonder if my people weren't cursed with permanent ADHD. Look, isn't that a cool looking shi- oh birdie….."

Only a couple of the expedition members caught what she meant so she let it drop and went on to inspect the ship. "Oh crap! You see, ADHD." When everyone looked around confused she couldn't help but laugh. "We have three ships in route to assist in fixing the….. _Orion_ (she had overheard Rodney and Sheppard arguing about its current name) and we don't need them! We have a fully operational shipyard complete with drydock and manufacturing facilities! And by the way, those manufacturing facilities include a drone production plant. It's just powered down."

She powered up the main control console to check all of the power relays, equipment, and raw material supplies. Sure enough they were all fully functional and in immaculate shape. It looked as if the shipyard had simply been closed for the day and was ready to open for business. She frowned as she went back and rechecked some readings she had spotted that worried her.

"I knew this was too good to be true. But all is not lost. This is an easy fix now that we have time and more manpower." McKay and Colonel Sumner were standing close to her and McKay had to ask. "What? What's wrong?"

Colonel Sumner looked a bit annoyed with the nosey Canadian Scientist that had just interrupted him. Ayiana couldn't help but notice and barely managed not to laugh. "Colonel, this entire facility is powered by geothermal energy. When the Lanteans first built the facility and began running it, there was no problem using the geothermal heat to generate power to run this place. But 10,000 years can change a planet drastically. If we continue to power the facility the same way, it will cause the caldera to destabilize and the super volcano to erupt."

Colonel Sumner looked up. "Ok, everyone out, now. Let's power down this entire hanger and shipyard." He turned to Chancellor Lycus. "We should also get your people to power down most of the facility except for emergency lights and such. We have portable power sources that will easily provide the needed power without risking you, your people, or the planet." Chancellor Lycus immediately began giving orders to his people telling them that they were to follow Ayiana's and Colonel Sumner's instructions like they were coming directly from him.

It took about an hour to get the outpost evacuated and the base on minimum power. Chancellor Lycus, Norina, (the Taranian lead scientist), and a small group of security were all that stayed with Ayiana and her people. Ayiana and McKay were going over computer readouts and sensor readings in the main control room.

Ayiana looked up. "Ok Rodney, it looks like we did get everything shut down in time but I still have a small doubt that it may have been futile in the long run. Can you validate the readings I pointed out too you?" After a few seconds of Rodney checking multiple screens and readouts he looked up. "Um, yes I can and I don't like it. We stopped the immediate drain but unless we can cool of the magma chamber, the volcano will blow anyway in five or ten years."

Ayiana chewed absently on her lip in thought. "Ok, five or ten years definitely buys us some time. I think I remember something from an Earth movie that gives me an idea. I would say it is safe to bring some people back in Chancellor, we just have to make sure only this room is allowed to draw any power. We won't dial the gate as that draws quite a bit of power. Living quarters and such should be fine until the three starships arrive tomorrow morning. We have portable power sources as Colonel Sumner stated earlier but we didn't bring any through the gate with us. Either ship has plenty to spare until I can fine tune my idea."

Rodney was curious now. "Ok, you've got me curious. What movie from Earth would give you an idea that might help fix the damage in a super volcano?" He asked with the curiosity of a child. "Ayiana knew he was going to laugh and she couldn't help but laugh herself. "Ice Age Meltdown," She stated simply. He looked intrigued and confused at the same time. "You're going to dump a glacier in the volcano?" Ayiana couldn't contain herself anymore and laughed so hard her eyes began to tear up and she doubled over holding her stomach in pain.

"No….No…AHAHAHA….No, sorry, let me catch my breath. I wasn't laughing at you, I'm laughing at the concept that a child's movie gave me the inspiration to save this planet and possibly the entire future of the galaxy. I'm going to make a bomb, you could say, using a matter replicator tied to a naquadah generator." When Rodney still looked a little confused Ayiana asked.

"How much liquid nitrogen do you think a naquadah powered replicator can produce?" McKay's face lit like he had just ascended. Then he became depressed as fast as he had become enlightened. "But that could still force an explosion from the pressure the steam builds up." Ayiana smiled. "Not if we build a steam operated power generator over a hole we bore with the phasers on _Voyager_." She said with a huge grin. "We kill two birds with one stone. We cool the magma chamber thus preventing an eruption and we generate free, clean, and abundant energy from the steam."

Rodney's eyes grew as big around as saucers when the revelation struck him. "Oh My God! You're a genius!" Rodney exclaimed before going off to start the necessary preparations to get the project rolling. Ayiana could hear him mumbling to himself as he walked away. _"Granted we won't be able to draw power from the escaping steam forever but it will last six months or so."_ So that night the four representatives from Atlantis enjoyed a home cooked meal courtesy of Chancellor Lycus' personal chef.

Just after breakfast the next morning, _Voyager, Cutlass, _and _Gladius_ dropped out of hyperspace. Ayiana, McKay, and Norina were standing on the balcony overlooking the stargate and the caldera of the volcano when Ayiana's combadge chirped. "_Voyager_ to Director Ayiana. We just entered the system. Where do you need us?" Ayiana tapped her combadge to answer. "Stand by _Voyager._ Just assume a standard orbit for now and have the _Gladius_ and _Cutlass _keep up an active patrol in and around the system. I'll contact you again in a few minutes after I've talked the Chancellor Lycus about what I want to do."

"Understood Director, we'll be standing by, _Voyager_ out." Ayiana didn't have to go far until she ran into the Chancellor. She explained her plan and then she beamed up to _Voyager_ with McKay and Norina. Once on board, she held a briefing with the senior staff of all three ships and the team leader of the Seabee team that had been brought along.

After the briefing work progressed quickly on the power plant. Engineering teams and the Seabees had beamed down and set up naquadah generators to power the hanger and shipyard. They had made a trade with the Orbanians for the designs of the generators. Major Carter had perfected the design and Ayiana improved on it even more. One generator was more than enough to run the entire facility to include the anti-grav platforms in the shipyard and hanger.

By the end of the week, the _Avenger_ Class Battleship was nearly complete and repairs on the _Orion_ were proceeding well ahead of schedule. The first day after the briefing, _Voyager_ had moved into low orbit and used sustain bursts from her phaser array to bore a large hole all the way to the magma chamber. Ayiana had contacted Atlantis with the designs McKay and Norina had worked on and prefab parts for the power plant were made in the industrial replicator and moved through the stargate to be assembled on Taranis.

Ayiana input the final instructions into the shipyard's main computer and watched as the assembly drones finished the last part of the _Avenger_. "Well, I think that does it. I'll shift the _Avenger_ to the hanger, run one more final diagnostic, then I believe it's time for a quick shakedown." She stated with obvious pride. Colonel Caldwell stepped up. He had gated through to see the facility in person. He had stayed around when he realized the _Avenger_ would be finished today and Ayiana intended on taking her on her maiden voyage.

"I suppose you have a destination already in mind if I know you." Ayiana's eyes sparkled as she smiled at the Colonel. "You catch on fast Colonel. I plan on taking her to the void between the galaxies and trying to bring the other Alteran Battleship, the _Tria_, back here to the shipyard for repairs." Caldwell just smiled and shook his head.

"What about the other two you located?" Ayiana smiled. "Those will be part of the _Orion's _shakedown cruise. Of course before she approaches the _Aurora_, I'll have the _Defiant _and _Valiant_ shadow her as I am getting some conflicting readings from the deep space scanners." Caldwell nodded and knew that was a good idea as he too had seen the strange readings.

A few hours later, the _Avenger_ was sitting in the void between the galaxies watching the _Tria_ approach at near light speed. Ayiana had upgraded the hyperdrive of the _Avenger_ to the speed and power of the ones used aboard the Asgard's fastest ships. McKay was watching the sensor readings. "Ok, got them. They are traveling at .999 the speed of light and should be passing us in three, two, and one." A blur hardly recognizable as even a ship shot by.

Ayiana turned the _Avenger_ and shot off in pursuit. She didn't try to match the speed she just brought the ship to normal full sublight. McKay was still watching the sensors as was Ayiana through a small holographic display around her head. A hologram of a woman appeared on the bridge.

**"Unknown vessel, I am Captain Helia of the Lantean warship **_**Tria**_**. Our ship has suffered damage. We've scanned your vessel and determined that it is capable of hyperspace travel. We've begun deceleration maneuvers. Will you render assistance in the form of hyperspace transport?"**

Ayiana activated the holographic communications of the _Avenger_. "Captain Helia, this is High Councilor Ayiana, last surviving member of the Alteran High Council and this is the Alteran warship _Avenger_." She paused when Captain Helia turned white as a ghost even through the hologram. "We will tow the _Tria_ back to Atlantis to allow you and your crew to rest after your long journey. Once you have disembarked, I will then tow your ship to our shipyard for repair and refit."

She could see the Lantean swallow visibly and nod her acceptance before the hologram faded away. All three Colonels (well two and a Lt. Col) turned and looked at her with their arms crossed across their chest. Sheppard was the first to speak. "High Councilor? So what happened to being honest and up front?" He asked sarcastically. Ayiana just shrugged her shoulders. "Well I am the last surviving member of the Alteran High Council so by default wouldn't that make me THE High Councilor?" She answered smiling crookedly at him.

The trip back to Atlantis towing the _Tria _took a little longer than the trip out to meet the _Tria_. Once they arrived, Colonel Caldwell beamed back to the _Armitage_ while Ayiana, Sheppard, and Colonel Sumner beamed to Atlantis to greet the Lanteans as they were beamed down. Captain Helia stepped toward a spot not far from the gate and looked totally confused when nothing happened. Ayiana just watched her in pure amusement.

"Nice try Captain but you can't switch control of the city to you. We built this city for you remember? This city is mine and will stay mine until I deem otherwise. We left it in your control once and you screwed it up." Captain Helia began to protest but Ayiana cut her off.

"I'm not blaming you specifically Captain, or your crew. We made the mistakes first by fleeing the Ori instead of fighting. You and your fellow Lanteans just followed in our footsteps. Granted you tried to put up a fight but you failed to learn from the first initial mistakes during the early years of the war. You were arrogant and assumed your superior technology would carry the day. You were wrong just like we were wrong. But we've been given a second chance to learn from and correct our mistakes and I offer you and your crew that same chance."

Several of the crew in the background were nodding their agreement already. Captain Helia thought for a minute then made her decision as well. "Very well High Councilor, we accept your offer of a second chance gladly."

With that the crew was divided up by skill sets and requests. Several of the _Tria's_ crew opted to go to the shipyard on Taranis not only to repair and refit their ship but to stay on at the shipyard to begin building more ships like the _Avenger._ They had been beyond awed when they scanned it as they passed. Their first order of business was to finish up the _Orion_ before they began work on the _Tria._

Once the _Orion _was complete, Ayiana, against the protests of Colonel Caldwell and Colonel Sumner, took it out on its shakedown to salvage the _Aurora._ The _Defiant _and the _Valiant_ were riding shotgun under cloak. They had remained uncloaked as they shadowed the _Orion_ through hyperspace then cloaked when all three exited hyperspace near the _Aurora._

As her two escorts cloaked, Ayiana picked up a Wraith scout ship in the area. It immediately turned away from the Lantean warship and looked like it was going to run. The _Defiant _and _Valiant_ had noticed it too and had immediately made a micro warp jump to intercept it. As both ships decloaked the scout ship managed to open a hyperspace window.

It never made it to the window as pulse phasers from both ships and a pair of quantum torpedoes from the _Defiant_ turned it into cosmic dust. It was the first time Ayiana had seen the _Defiant_ or any class ship from the UEC in battle. She was very impressed with the power and speed of the small but powerful ships. Both ships immediately recloaked and began their silent vigil.

Ayiana discovered a Wraith inside one of the stasis pods before she ever boarded the ship. She tapped into the main computer remotely and severed all access the Wraith had to the ship then simply beamed him out and into the brig inside a neural inhibitor field. She would deal with him later.

She was about to get up and beam to the _Aurora_ when she detected two Wraith Cruisers on an intercept course. She was about to contact her escorts when her coms beeped. "We see them Director. What are your orders?" Captain Jonathan Jones of the _Defiant_ said when she accepted the incoming hail. "Remain cloaked until each of you get in position behind each cruiser. The second they are in range of our drones, I will begin jamming all Wraith frequencies. The instant the jamming starts, decloak and hit them hard. I'll clean up anything that's left with drones." JJ smiled. "You're evil but I like evil." He said laughing as he closed the channel.

Ayiana moved the _Orion_ to place it between the _Aurora _and the approaching cruisers. The shields and weapons were already charged. She waited as the cruisers dropped out of hyperspace and made a swift approach. They slowed considerably when their sensors registered a fully operational Lantean warship facing them. Ayiana smiled. "Welcome to the new world boys." She said as she initiated the powerful jamming field of the upgraded _Orion._

The two _Defiant _class destroyers dropped their cloaks and surged forward firing everything they had. Pulse phasers, quantum torpedoes, and even the standard phaser arrays on each ship poured massive firepower out of each ship slamming into the Wraith cruisers with terrifyingly destructive power. It wasn't the surgical precision of an Alteran drone strike but it was beautiful to see. Even though the Wraith cruisers were almost ten times the size of the two ships attacking them, Ayiana knew her drones would not be needed.

The first hits on each cruiser were pulse phasers slamming into the hyperdrives totally destroying them. The next to be destroyed was the bridge on each ship as the phaser arrays first sliced into the armor then another burst of pulse phasers shredded the bridge. And last but definitely not least a full salvo of quantum torpedoes impacted the damaged hull from the destroyed hyperdrives to the destroyed bridge. Explosions rippled all down the hull ripping large holes in the cruisers that a second volley of torpedoes from the aft tubes exploited.

As the _Defiant_ and _Valiant_ finished their first attack run and rolled off to come around for another pass, if needed, both ships fired a volley of photon torpedoes from their aft tubes. The photons went straight through the open holes blown by the quantum torpedoes and exploded deep inside the cruisers, turning them into an expanding field of debris. Seeing there was nothing left to shoot at, both ships cloaked again and moved off to guard the _Orion's_ salvage operation again.

Ayiana sat in the control chair (now on the bridge where it should have always been) with her mouth actually hanging open. She had just witnessed a very well executed ambush. Even though that had been her plan all along, seeing it so perfectly executed was something to behold. In her head she calculated their chances of winning this war against the Wraith and her estimate went up considerably. Especially since a new idea had formed in her head while she watched the two little destroyers totally obliterate ships ten times their size.

She worked quickly to secure the _Aurora_ and it's passengers to tow back to Atlantis. Part of her wanted to sit here and wait for a Hive to show up or maybe go hunt one down but she decided against it as the idea she had earlier was beginning to really take shape now.

The crew of the _Aurora_ had been in their stasis pods for 10,000 years. Their bodies had aged and they were very frail. It shouldn't have happened that fast even if the crew was Lantean and not Alteran. The Lanteans healing abilities were almost as good as the Alterans but not quite there. The only reason the crew had aged so badly was the damage to the _Aurora_.

It had taken a pretty bad beating and a lot of systems were beginning to or already had failed. She could reverse the damage to their bodies once they were safely back in Atlantis. The cellular regeneration technology that Starfleet had gifted the UEC with once combined with the Alteran DNA resequencer would have them as good as new. With a few adjustments that is.

Ayiana beamed back to the _Orion_ and hailed her two escorts. "Ok, all done here, let's get these people back to Atlantis so hopefully I can save their lives." With that both ships decloaked and jumped to hyperspace alongside the _Orion._

Once the _Orion_ made it back to Atlantis, Ayiana immediately transferred the stasis pods to a large storage room and transferred them to city power. She also explained what she wanted to do to Dr. Beckett and he watched as she hooked the pod containing the ship's chief medical officer (CMO) into the modified DNA resequencer. As she made minor adjustments to the machine as it ran, she called the CMO from the _Tria_ to assist as well. Once the CMO fully understood what Ayiana was doing, she had no problem taking over and restoring the rest of the _Aurora's_ crew.

As Dr. Beckett understood the Starfleet technology better than the CMO of the _Tria_ and she understood the Alteran technology better than him, they made the perfect team for this type of experimental procedure. When they finished with the CMO from the _Aurora, _he would be able to lend his expertise as well. After he ate, rested, and recuperated that is, by both Dr. Beckett's and the _Tria's _CMO's orders. Ayiana made sure they could handle this task and then she beamed back to the _Orion_ and towed the _Aurora_ to Taranis.

Once the _Aurora_ was safely docked in the shipyard, Ayiana set a course for the last _Aurora _class ship and jumped into hyperspace. Before she left for this last ship, she set her plan in motion. She had reasoned that since she had a way of tracking all of the Alteran and Lantean ships, then the Wraith should have something similar. With that thought in mind, she sent the _Bellerophon_ and the _Pathfinder_ to the crashed Wraith supply ship on the second planet of the Lantea system.

Their job was to get power restored to the main computer and find a way to locate as many Wraith hives as they could. The distress beacon had already been deactivated by the crew of the _Gladius_ when they captured the Wraith Commander there.

As the _Orion_ and her escorts were approaching the coordinates of the last warship, Ayiana picked up an unknown ship docked with the Lantean ship. She immediately hailed her escorts. "Captain Jones, drop out of hyperspace at this point and proceed to the coordinates under cloak. But do not, I repeat do not engage unless detected and engaged first." Both ships after a "Yes Ma'am" dropped out of hyperspace, cloaked and jumped to warp.

A few minutes later the _Orion _dropped out of hyperspace and Ayiana raised the shields and powered the drones and pulse cannon turrets. She also began hailing the ship that looked like a hodge podge of numerous different ships. "Unknown vessel, this is the Alteran warship _Orion_ what is your purpose aboard our ship?"

A few seconds later a beautiful young lady with light brown hair appeared on the viewscreen. "I'm Commander Larrin of the Travelers. We are performing legal salvage operations on a derelict ship." Ayiana smiled wickedly. "Commander Larrin, my scans indicate none of your crew have the proper physiology to even utilize our ship. We have just recently returned to this region of space and are recovering lost assets to continue the war against the Wraith. I suggest you and your crew vacate our vessel as quickly as you can. And do not attempt to sabotage any of the systems."

Ayiana could see the hurt and almost desperation on Larrin's face. She could also sense the feeling of despair. "Commander Larrin, I can sense your despair from here. What distresses you so much about us reclaiming a ship you can't even use?" Larrin blinked.

"If you truly are one of the Ancestors, then you know how dangerous the Wraith are. My people have survived for thousands of years by becoming Nomads in the stars. We never settle in one place and stay on the move with our ships. But as you can see from your scans of our ship, our fleet is slowly falling apart from lack of proper maintenance facilities. The Lantean ship will provide space that my people are desperately short of."

Ayiana thought for a bit then beamed Larrin straight to the bridge. She knew the coms were still active as well. "I have beamed your commander to my ship so we can have a face to face discussion to try and find an amicable solution to both of our problems."

"Commander Larrin. I appreciate and understand you need. But an _Aurora_ Class Battleship is not the answer to your needs. As I have stated, we have just recently returned to this part of space and we intend to eradicate the Wraith menace once and for all. For that, we need warships, OUR warships. What would you say if I told you we have the capability of protecting your people from the Wraith and even building you ships that would better suite your needs than a warship will?"

Larrin snorted but stood thoughtfully for a minute. "I would have to say I'm doubtful about your ability to protect my people or anyone for that matter. With what I see, you have one ship and two if we let you take the Lantean ship. And that one's going to take a lot of work to get back up to speed anytime soon."

Ayiana looked Larrin in the eye. "You've got spunk I'll give you that. But make no mistake that you would be "letting" us take anything. There is no way you can stop me from taking our ship back even if you truly thought you could. But watch yourself on how arrogant you get. I have offered to protect your people and build you new ships. I will even go as far as repairing your current ships to factory serviceability. But do not try my patience or I will leave you floating in space alone."

Larrin knew her bluff had backfired in her face and she was most definitely not used to that. Larrin was used to getting her way all of the time. She realized she would get no further with Ayiana but could lose ground very quickly. "I understand and accept your offer of protection, repair, and new ships.

"Ayiana smiled but she was still not in a good mood and decided to make a little show of force as the _Defiant _and _Valiant _had arrived in the system under cloak while Larrin and her had talked. "Larrin, that was a smart move on your part. Let me show you a little something just to let you know that I meant business. Captain Jones, Captain Watters please drop your cloak so Commander Larrin can understand we can protect her people."

Larrin's jaw dropped open as she saw the two powerful little starships shimmer into view. Ayiana looked toward Larrin. "Go ahead Commander, have your crew scan those two ships. Those ships may look small but they each destroyed a Wraith cruiser with ease earlier today." As the comsystem was still active, Larrin's crew heard Ayiana tell her to have them scan the ships. So without waiting on Larrin to order them to, they initiated a complete scan on their own. "Commander Larrin, those ships are registering a power source more powerful than just about anything I have seen in decades other than a Wraith or Lantean ship. I'm also reading several beam type of weapons and launch tubes for a torpedo type weapon."

Ayiana's console beeped. "Well, it looks like you're about to find out. There's a Wraith cruiser on an intercept course." Larrin's face went pale white. "Jase, get everyone off that ship, release the docking clamps, and get the hell out of here. I'll stay here for now and see what happens." Ayiana smiled before opening her comline to her two escorts again. "Captain Jones, do you see the Wraith cruiser on your sensors yet?" After a brief pause JJ replied. "Yes Ma'am. We have it coming out of hyperspace in a few minutes." Ayiana smiled evilly. "You know what to do Captain." Both starships cloaked again and moved off to come in behind the cruiser as it dropped out of hyperspace.

The Travelers ship released the docking clamps on the battleship and jumped into hyperspace. Ayiana positioned the _Orion_ between the cruiser's hyperspace window and the drifting warship. "Watch this, you'll be thoroughly impressed."

The Wraith cruiser dropped out of hyperspace and Ayiana began jamming all frequencies across the board. As the cruiser maneuvered to try to get a shot at the vulnerable Lantean warship, the _Defiant _and the _Valiant_ decloaked with _Defiant_ in the lead. Instead of separate like last time, they came in one behind the other. The _Defiant _let loose with her pulse cannons, phaser array, and quantum torpedoes just like last time. As the cruiser took heavy hits, the _Valiant_ swooped in firing pulse cannon and three photon torpedoes. The three torpedoes shot straight though the holes blasted by the quantum torpedoes of the _Defiant. _And just like last time, the resulting internal explosions turned to cruiser into a expanding cloud of very small parts.

Larrin stood there totally aghast. She could hardly believe the destruction caused by two ships that were smaller than the Travelers ships. She turned and looked toward Ayiana. "Ancestor, if you will allow me to hail my crew, we'll be on our way and leave your ship to you." Ayiana looked at Larrin stubbornly. "That wasn't our agreement Larrin. Let me get the warship under tow and then you can have your ship meet us at these coordinates and we'll put the final touches on our deal."

The next day, Larrin's ship arrived in orbit of Taranis. Ayiana ordered the hanger open and had the Traveler's ship land in the hanger. As a show of good faith, she had the ship moved into a drydock and her people got to work on repairs and minor refits immediately. Larrin stood with Ayiana inside the shipyard and watched in awe as the engineering crews began work on her ship. "I'm amazed the Wraith didn't destroy this place long ago."

Ayiana looked around her. "The people of this planet didn't even know this was here so it stands to reason the Wraith never even suspected its existence. The Lanteans went to a great amount of trouble to keep it secret. Once these warships are finished with their repairs and refits, I plan on mounting a major offensive to drive the Wraith out of this galaxy forever."

Larrin paused to study the Alteran standing beside her. "I've never heard of an Ancestor being as aggressive as you sound." Ayiana smiled. "Well, I told you I am an Alteran. We are different from the Lanteans you know as the Ancestors. We created the Lanteans to take over for us when most of us died from the plague or ascended. They were normal humans just as you before we modified their DNA to be more like ours. And you are right about being more aggressive now anyway."

She paused to reflect on how she had changed since being saved by these humans around her. "I have looked back through our past at all the mistakes my people have made. We tried to solve everything through peaceful negotiations or simply by running. The Lanteans attempted to fight the Wraith but the arrogance and blind faith in our technology cost them the war. Since I have joined the people of Earth, I have learned there is a time for running and a time for fighting. This is one of those times that it's best to stand your ground and fight." She said quietly but with great conviction.

"The Tau'ri have fought countless wars and battles amongst themselves for centuries. They may not have been very technologically advanced but they understand war and how to truly fight one. So with the help of another advanced race of humans, the Asgard, the Lanteans and me, we have combined our strengths into one force. They learn technology quickly and can apply their knowledge of warfare to its greatest potential with our technological guidance."

Larrin thought a little bit and realized even someone millions of years old can still learn new things. It was a good thing the old adage about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks didn't apply here. She looked around her at the bustle of activity going on in the shipyard and for the first time in her life felt real hope. She was about to go check on her ship when Ayiana's combadge chirped. "Director, this is Dr. McKay. We just got a message from the _Bellerophon_ and I think you're going to want to see this." Ayiana tapped her combadge to reply. "Alright Rodney, I'm on my way." She looked at Larrin and smiled. "Care to join me?" She asked as she headed to the main control room.

As she looked through the data the _Bellerophon _and _Pathfinder _had discovered, she became really excited. "Yes! That's just what I was hoping. Most of the Wraith are still hibernating but they have activated one full hive and its support fleet to investigate what happened to the ships we destroyed. One Hive and its support fleet is easy to handle. But first we can initiate the main part of the plan I came up with." Larrin looked at her a little confused.

Ayiana turned to a technician. "Hail Colonel Caldwell and tell him to gate here as soon as possible. I have a plan that is going to severely cripple the Wraith but we need to act fast." It didn't take the Colonel long to step through the gate and make his way to the control room. "Ok Director, color me curious. You've got me very intrigued with this "severely crippling the wraith" bit." She smiled and pulled up the data from the _Bellerophon_ on the main screen.

"These are the locations of almost the entire Wraith fleet. As you can see, 99% of their Hives are still on planets and in hibernation. They have one full hive and support fleet active in this area trying to find out what happened to their other ships. My plan is to take every UEC ship we have in this galaxy and start beaming several quantum torpedoes into as many hives as we can, as fast as we can. We'd need to rig them to explode if tampered with in any way. I hope we can get them all in place before anyone tampers with one. We set all of the torpedoes to detonate remotely and once all are in place or we are discovered, BOOM, we take out most of the fleet on the ground."

Colonel Caldwell started to hail the fleet and give them the orders but Ayiana stopped him. "Just tell them to get to the closest stargate and gate here ASAP Colonel. I don't want ANY chance of this leaking to the Wraith before we are ready or this will be a lot harder." He nodded his understanding and did just that. An hour later every UEC starship that was capable of cloaking and carrying large amounts of torpedoes jumped into hyperspace in route to their designated target areas. Ayiana just kept her fingers crossed in hopes that they could pull this off. Each ship would drop out of hyperspace a half light year from each target, immediately cloak, and jump to warp for the last leg of the trip. Once the target was reached, a careful scan revealed the least likely places that a torpedo would be discovered but would do the most damage.

Three days later Ayiana was pacing the floor of the Control Room in Atlantis. She hadn't slept well for the last three days worrying something would go wrong and ruin their carefully laid plans. "Oh this waiting is killing me. This is taking too long." And that's when Mr. Murphy decided to rear his ugly head. Alarm buzzers began going off in the Control Room. "What's going on, report?!" Ayiana ordered.

"A Wraith Scout ship just dropped out of hyperspace near the gas giant. Defense turrets have engaged." Ayiana's head jerked up. "What? Why the hell didn't we detect it before it got near the system?" One of the Lantean technicians looked up. "We've always had trouble detecting the Scout Ships. They are simply too small to detect in hyperspace until they drop out right on top of you." He said like it was common knowledge but Ayiana knew better.

"Our technology is better than that and you know it. Stop the turrets from destroying it and try to disable it instead. We need to know how that damn thing slipped past our sensor net. Start jamming we need to keep it from getting out a message and warning its friends." She watched tensely as torpedoes in route to the scout self-destructed before reaching the ship. Pulse Phasers slammed into the side of the scout knocking it spinning before one burst struck the cockpit instantly killing the pilot.

The turrets stopped firing but the scout still turned into a fireball. "Damn it!" Ayiana screamed. "Get some jumpers out there and pick up every tiny piece of that scout ship. I mean everything down to the microscopic dust. We have to find out what made that ship undetectable." Mr. Murphy wasn't done yet. "Director, we're getting a Priority One hail from the _Armitage_." He said with a slight tremor to his voice. "Put it through." Ayiana sighed thinking what now.

Colonel Caldwell's face appeared on the viewscreen. "Director we've got a problem. The Hive we were beaming our torpedoes into just went active and is preparing to lift off from the planet. Initial scans show they just received a narrow beamed subspace data burst so they all are coming out of hibernation." Ayiana shook her head and finally understood the old Earth adage, "When it rains, it pours".

"Understood Colonel, get out of there and send the signal. We'll blow as many as we can before they get into space." With that Colonel Caldwell nodded and gave the order to detonate. They had only gotten through with half of the Wraith fleet. Seconds later, over thirty hives turned into miniature suns as at least four quantum torpedoes per ship exploded deep inside. Over one hundred cruisers followed suite as two torpedoes per ship detonated. The Wraith fleet had just been cut in half with zero loss of life to any UEC ship. Ayiana just hoped it had been enough to give them a fighting chance at survival.

The first few battles against the Wraith had been decisively one sided. The Wraith had no idea what they had even encountered and were not expecting any type of resistance so the ambushes had been easy. That would change now as they were on alert and more cautious. The only good thing to happen during the day was something Dr. Zelenka had found in the data banks.

"Director Ayiana, this is Dr. Zelenka." Ayiana heard over her combadge. She sighed and tapped her badge thinking something else had gone wrong. "Go ahead Radek." After a small pause. "I found something in the database that you may be interested in seeing." He replied but this time she could detect the excitement in his voice. "On my way, I could use some good news today."

She arrived in the lab Radek was working in and saw within seconds why he was so excited. "Radek, you may have just saved the Asgard's "collective little grey butts" as Colonel O'Neill is so fond of saying. She immediately went to work to build a handheld prototype. Radek helped her with the excitement of a child at Christmas. "If I understand this correctly, this can be easily converted to a ship based or satellite based weapon." He stated as sort of a question but not a question.

"Yes Radek, you are right. The Asgard will understand how to adapt it but I think we'll send along a bit of instructions just in case." She said as she smiled mischievously. Radek couldn't help but smile back. "Miss Ayiana, if I didn't know better, I would think us lowly humans were starting to rub off on you, as Colonel Sheppard likes to say." He said. Ayiana laughed but deep down she knew he was right. They were rubbing off on her but she considered that a good thing, a very good thing indeed.

Once the prototype and basic instructions were complete, Ayiana immediately dialed Othala to contact the Asgard. She sent the instructions through in a data burst and personally carried the prototype through. She was immediately beamed aboard Thor's ship. "Thank you Director Ayiana you don't know what this means to my people." Ayiana smiled at the little alien.

"It is my pleasure Supreme Commander. But all I did is build the prototype and compile the instructions. It was Dr. Zelenka who found the reference to it and realized it could be adapted to a ship or satellite based weapon. We have our hands full with the Wraith now as they have all came out of hibernation at once. We were in the middle of implementing a plan to destroy them all on the ground when we were discovered."

She paused for a breath and Thor only blinked but didn't interrupt her. "We managed to destroy half of their fleet before they reached orbit but now the other half is much more cautious and aware of the danger we represent now." Thor simply nodded. "It is more than we thought you would accomplish in such a short time. But with the introduction of this new hope for our people, we will be able to send ships to assist in the final eradication of the menace known as Wraith." Ayiana bowed her head in thanks. "It hasn't been tested yet, I wanted to get it to you as quickly as possible."

Thor moved a stone on his control board and the _Biliskner_ jumped into hyperspace only to emerge minutes later. Filling the main viewscreen was two _Biliskner_ class warships and a _Daniel Jackson_ class science vessel. Thor moved another stone as the two _Biliskners_ turned to engage the new threat. A large distortion wave burst forth from the bow of his ship and encompassed all three vessels in front of him. "It appears your weapon is a success Director Ayiana. All three ships have been cleared of Replicators. Crew from the _Daniel Jackson_ are transporting to take control of the two _Biliskners_ as we speak."

Thor's viewscreen activated at that time and Kvasir's face appeared on it. "Supreme Commander Thor. Your timing is impeccable as always. Your use of that distortion wave has rendered all Replicators on my ship and the two _Biliskners_ into inert blocks. Most impressive." Thor simply nodded and indicated Ayiana. "Our Allies of Old and New have come through with this discovery. A human scientist discovered the concept in the Ancient database on Atlantis and Ayiana fashioned the prototype and instructions with which I then used to fabricate a disruptor cannon to produce the necessary distortion wave. I am transmitting the specifications on a narrow beam to your ship. Please make the necessary adjustments on the recaptured ships as well."

"Pass the modification to any ships you encounter and any you might liberate as well. But please be cautious and do not broadcast it on a wide or open band. I do not wish the Replicators to counter it before we can eradicate them completely." Kvasir nodded. "It will be as you command Supreme Commander." Thor bowed his head in respect and gratitude to Ayiana. "The Asgard are deeply in you debt Ayiana." Ayiana smiled.

"Don't forget the humans of Earth Thor. Without them, none of this would have been possible. Yes they got a boost from an unlikely source, but even you have to admit they were on the path there anyway. They are a resourceful and unique species. They are much like we were millions of years ago but they seem to possess a special quality I'm still working on nailing down. But I believe they are the hope and future of not only our races but the rest of the universe."

Thor blinked. "I feel as you do Ayiana. From what I have learned, they have great potential and may very well be the fifth race." Ayiana thought about that for a bit. "I believe you may be right and I think it is something we should bring before the Nox in the near future. But before that, I need to get back to Pegasus and continue the fight against the Wraith." Thor moved a stone and the _Biliskner_ jumped into orbit of Othala. "Once the Replicators have been dealt with, I will release the task force of ships the UEC sent to aid us in our war. I will have as many ships as the Asgard can spare tow them to the Pegasus galaxy to aid you in your fight against the Wraith. The Asgard ships will stay as well to assist in any way they are needed."

"Thank you Supreme Commander. It is an honor to be called your Ally." With that Thor transported her to the surface where Ayiana returned to Atlantis to continue her fight against the Wraith. Before she had left for Othala, she had asked Colonel Caldwell to send ships to every known human planet to place a cloaked probe in orbit. When she returned to Atlantis, those probes were showing Wraith ships approaching the planets. Not all at once, but enough that she knew the people on the planets they were approaching were screwed if nothing was done.

She began sending teams through the gate to warn planets of the approaching Wraith and evacuate as many people as possible. On the closest planets to Lantea, she had Colonel Caldwell meet the Wraith with their collective fleet. Colonel Caldwell had transferred his command to the _Avenger_ and given command of the _Armitage _to Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Bishop.

In orbit of the Genii homeworld, Colonel Caldwell waited with two of the repaired _Aurora _Class Battleships. Along with his _Avenger, _he had the _Orion, _and the newly named _Harbinger_(the ship Larrin's people found). He had the UEC ships as well but they were all under cloak and out to either side of the planet. Colonel Caldwell was able to accurately predict where the two hive ships and their accompanying cruisers would drop out of hyperspace. He had deployed the UEC fleet minus the _Armitage_ and the two _Sabers_ in two attack groups 15,000 kilometers to either side of the predicted exit point. Once the Wraith exited hyperspace, the _Armitage, Gladius, and Cutlass_ would move in behind them effectively boxing them in. The _Sabers_ would use their superior maneuverability and target Wraith darts and cruisers while the _Armitage _would launch fighters and hold back out of range of the hive ships and cruisers.

After the "door" was closed, the flanking attack groups were to drop their cloaks and attack. If executed properly, the Wraith shouldn't stand a chance. As long as Mr. Murphy stayed far away from this first major battle that is. This was much more dangerous than a couple of cruisers. It would be the first time they had faced hive ships and their supporting ships in open battle.

Colonel Caldwell looked over at his communications officer. "Give me a secure, narrow beamed link to the other two _Auroras_." Lt. Mark Stuart gave him a nod letting him know he was connected. "Major Lorne, Commander Larrin I want you to listen very closely and follow my directions exactly. Dr. McKay has recalculated the drop out point based on current speed and sensor readings of the approaching fleet. He is transmitting them to you now. When I end this transmission, the _Avenger_will move forward on thrusters only. I want both of your ships to follow suit. Begin charging your main forward batteries in three minutes. Your targets of priority are the hive ships. After the hives are destroyed, target cruisers and other support vessels at will. We'll keep our drones in reserve unless we absolutely need them. Do you have any questions?"

"No Sir." Both said in unison. Caldwell nodded and said. "Today we make war that we may one day live in peace. Gods speed Ladies and Gentleman, let's do this."

With that the three warships began to creep forward on their thrusters. Three and a half minutes later, the Wraith assault force burst through the open tear from hyperspace into normal space. The flanking groups held their fire and remained cloaked. The "door" begin to swing closed and Caldwell said one word across fleet wide coms. "Execute!"

The pulse cannon blasts from the main batteries of each Alteran warship tore through space. The starboard hive ship never even opened the doors to her dart bays before the heavy pulse blasts from eight pulse cannons ripped through her like a hot knife through butter. _Avenger _had targeted that hive as well as the _Orion_. The hive to the portside faired a little better as it only took hits from one ship. Still it took heavy damage and fires could be seen along her hull. After the initial open salvo, the flanking attack groups decloaked as cruisers had started to scatter in the ensuing chaos and shock of seeing Lantean warships. _Armitage _had been jamming the system after the final calculations were made so the Wraith didn't detect the warships waiting for them.

The UEC _Thunderchild_ along with the UEC _Voyager_ were on the portside closest to the wounded hive. Quantum and photon torpedoes tore in to the badly damaged ship along with multiple phaser strikes from multi-directional phaser arrays. The hive had managed to open its dart bay doors and darts were pouring out to try to stop the glowing blue and red balls of death that were tearing their ship apart. Fighters from the _Armitage_ along with the two _Saber_ class light cruisers and the three _Defiant _class destroyers tore into the Wraith darts with no mercy.

Darts were exploding like little mini stars all over the battlefield. But now the initial shock and surprise had worn off and the cruisers were returning fire. They were mad because of the destruction of one hive that was soon followed by the second as the _Thunderchild_ took advantage of the open dart bays and launched another full spread of quantum torpedoes into them. It then rolled upward before passing over the stricken hive unleashing another spread of photon torpedoes from the two aft torpedo tubes. An _Akira _class battle cruiser packs an impressive array of torpedo launchers. The upper module alone carries thirteen tubes while the saucer section has six tubes as well giving the _Thunderchild_ a staggering nineteen torpedo tubes.

Red phaser beams were crisscrossing space like a spider web but they were interwoven with the blue plasma bursts of Wraith weapons fire. The _Cutlass_ was using her superior maneuverability to avoid the three cruisers that were trying to pin her down. She was leaking plasma from both warp nacelles and her shields were down below thirty percent. If she didn't get help soon, she wouldn't survive the battle.

Colonel Caldwell saw the _Cutlass_ was in trouble. "Major Marks, plot a micro jump that will put us between the _Cutlass_ and those cruisers. Charge all secondary turrets and I want them firing on those cruisers the second we come out of hyperspace." Major Marks acknowledged and locked in the coordinates. Seconds later the _Avenger_ appeared in the small space between the badly wounded _Cutlass_ and the cruisers, spewing pulse cannon fire from all tri-barrel and double barreled turrets that could be brought to bear on the three cruisers.

While the _Avenger_ was dealing with the three cruisers that had been chasing the _Cutlass,_ the rest of the fleet converged on the remaining three cruisers and darts. There weren't many darts left but about half of the _Valkyrie_ fighters had been lost as well.

With three _Intrepid_ class cruisers, three _Defiant_ class destroyers, two upgraded _Aurora_ class battleships, the three cruisers that the _Avenger_ wasn't going after, didn't last long. The _Thunderchild _and the _Gladius_ were diving in at full impulse to assist the _Avenger _in finishing off the last three cruisers and providing aid to the _Cutlass_. Once the cruisers were destroyed, the _Defiants_ made short work of the remaining darts. In less than thirty minutes the first major engagement of Wraith forces in open space was over. The UEC had won and succeeded in destroying two more hive ships, six cruisers, and thousands of darts.

The battle was won but not without a cost. Over forty people died aboard the _Cutlass_ and thirty _Valkyrie_ pilots were lost. The _Cutlass _had sustained major damage and may not be salvageable. The _Gladius and Defiant_ had taken minor damage but no loss of life. The rest of the fleet had emerged damage free. The three _Intrepid _class starships combed the battlefield destroying any piece of wreckage large enough to hold survivors or threaten the planet below if it fell into the gravity well. Any survivors located were beamed into the brig inside a neural inhibitor field.

The _Cutlass_was deemed unsalvageable but the _Thunderchild_ locked her in a tractor beam and jumped into hyperspace to tow the now derelict ship to Taranis where it would be used as scrap. The Genii radioed the fleet to thank them for saving them. The Genii had tried to hide their advanced nature (roughly equivalent to Earth circa WW II) but Ayiana and several Lanteans along with Dr. Weir had convinced them it wasn't necessary as the Lanteans knew all about them. Even though Commander Cowen had been skeptical, the new shielding for their nuclear facilities, medical treatment for the people dying of radiation poisoning, and the presence of the Ancestors had won him over. Now with the salvation of his homeworld from a culling, he was even more willing to cooperate with the UEC.

Dr. Weir didn't trust him or half the Genii she met but Ayiana smiled and told her not to worry. "Dr. Weir, trust me when I say you won't have to worry about Cowen or any of the Genii. I have taken care of all of it." She said with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. Dr. Weir had no idea what she meant or what she had done but she knew she could trust Ayiana.

After their crushing defeat over the Genii homeworld, (crushing more to their morale) the Wraith pulled back from human worlds to re-evaluate the situation. They continued to try to get a scout ship into the Lantean system but Ayiana had ordered the building and deployment of even more cloaked sensor arrays. After some refinement they could detect anything moving through hyperspace by the minute gravimetric ripples it caused. They were still unable to detect the scout ship itself but Ayiana was satisfied that they could detect the approach of one if not the ship itself.

Several of the remaining hive queens wanted to join in a mass attack with the rest of the hives on the Lantean system itself. But the fact that half of their fleet had been destroyed before they even reached orbit plus the complete destruction of two hives and their support fleets over Genii was really giving the Wraith commanders pause. The only explanation they could come up with was that the Lanteans had returned in force and had learned from their mistakes in the previous war. So it was decided by unanimous decision, the fleet would pull back even further from human worlds and try to rebuild. Ayiana was having none of that though.

Reinforcements had arrived in the form of Task Force Ida, five _Biliskner_ class warships, two _Daniel Jackson_ class science ships, and two of the new, fresh off the line _O'Neill _class warships. With the UEC reinforcements, that brought the UEC built fleet up to six _Defiant_ class destroyers, four _Akira_ class battle cruisers, three _Intrepid_ class light cruisers, and one of each _Saber_ class light cruiser, _Armitage _class battle carrier, and _Sovereign_ class heavy cruiser (the UEC _Enterprise_).

With the addition of three more _Defiant _class ships, Ayiana and Colonel Caldwell decided to use them for scouting and harassment attacks against the Wraith to keep them off guard. The destroyers traveled in two ship patrols and would find a Wraith position, drop out of hyperspace, cloak, go to warp, drop out of warp, decloak fire off a double spread of torpedoes and pulse phasers trying to cause as much damage as possible. They would then recloak, jump to warp in a different direction, travel for an hour or so at warp, then drop out of warp, decloak, and jump back into hyperspace to Atlantis or Taranis to reload and head out again.

This went on for several weeks. In the mean time, the _Tria _and _Aurora_ were finished being repaired and refitted with the same pulse cannons from the _Destiny_ that all of their current _Auroras_ now possessed. All future builds of _Aurora_ class battleships had the pulse cannons incorporated from the start. Larrin's ship had finished its upgrade and repair as well. Since Larrin had assumed command of the _Harbinger_, she let her second in command take over the traveler vessel. She sent word to other travelers to bring two ships at a time to Taranis for the same refit and repair her previous ship had received.

Things were beginning to look brighter for the Pegasus galaxy as a whole. Ayiana just wondered when the other proverbial shoe was going to drop. She had enough run ins with Mr. Murphy to know he always liked to show up when it was the most inconvenient for her. Murphy's Law struck this time in the worst form possible, another city ship like Atlantis approaching through hyperspace.

Scans showed another Lantean mistake had come back to bite them in the butt again. The Replicators they had created had found out Lantea still existed and were on their way to destroy it. Little did they know that Lantea was now UEC territory and the system was loaded with defenses and ships. The icing on the cake was the assistance the Tollan had provided in the form of their phase shifting technology.

Narim along with several Tollan scientists had requested to join the Atlantis group to further their knowledge of Alteran technology by working side by side with a live Alteran and their prodigy, the Lanteans. Little did Narim realize that their contribution would save the entire expedition from destruction.

The Tollan had finally accepted the UEC as an equal and provided their technology freely as a full member of the Confederation. Ayiana had improved the phase shifting technology even further and incorporated it into the drone weapons of Atlantis. So when the Replicator (Asuran) city ship dropped out of hyperspace above Lantea, drones that could phase through its shields slammed into the city and destroyed all of the shield generators. The instant the city ship lost its shield, the nine Asgard ships hit the city from every conceivable angle with their Replicator disruptor cannons, destroying every single Asuran on the city ship.

Ayiana and several Lanteans were in EVA suits and beamed to the control room of the city ship. With the help of all nine Asgard ships locking their tractor beams on the city, Ayiana and the Lanteans were able to bring the city under control and achieve a stable orbit until they could replace the shield generators. Ayiana knew the Asurans would try again so the nine Asgard ships beamed UEC Marines and Lantean engineers on board their ships and jumped into hyperspace for Asuras.

As the Asgard ships neared Asuras Thor activated his comsystem. "Supreme Commander Thor to Asgard fleet. Activate your stealth systems and prepare to engage your Replicator disruptor cannons on my command. With the upgraded stealth systems not even the Lantean based Asuran sensors should detect us until it is too late. I have transmitted the optimal position of our nine ships to cover the entire planet. Be ready to transport the UEC Marines and Lantean engineers the micro-second you fire your disruptors. The Lantean engineers have pinpointed the replicator production facilities and the Marines and engineers know what they have to do."

With that the Asgard fleet dropped out of hyperspace and disbursed around the planet. Within one minute all nine ships were in position and fired their replicator disruptor cannons. Before the last replicator block on the planet had settled to the ground, UEC Marines armed with ARGs (Anti Replicator Guns) and Lantean Engineers beamed into all of the replicator productions facilities and destroyed them before they could begin to build more replicators. Asgard crews then began to beam in to assist in securing the newly acquired planet and technology. Within minutes reinforcements began arriving through the gate and by ship. The UEC task force moved into the system and with help from the Asgard, began fortifying the entire system with defensive turrets and LGPSs.

The two _O'Neill _class warships and the five _Aurora_ class battleships began beaming the inert replicator blocks to a storage facility to be used in the construction of new ships. The Asurans already had shipyards dotting the planet and the Lanteans and Asgard began building more. As soon as the city ship the UEC had captured from the Asurans was repaired, it would return to Asuras. All things considered, this had gone from a very bad day to one of the most rewarding days Ayiana had experienced since finding the _Avenger_ and the shipyard on Taranis.

Once the city ship was returned to Asuras, Ayiana gated back to Atlantis to dial Avalon and make her report for the day. She new General Hammond was going to be pleased with all of the progress that had been made today. Once the gates had connected, General Hammond called her first. "Director Ayiana, I was just about to dial you for some advice." _Uh oh_." Ayiana thought. "Ok, General, let me go first please. We were attacked today by another city ship identical to Atlantis."

She could see the terror cross his face. "No General, it's actually good news. We detected it long before it reached us and determined it was crewed by human form Replicators created by the Lanteans. They had adopted the name of their planet Asuras. Thanks to the Tollan phase shifting technology, I was able to modify the drones in Atlantis to phase through the city ships shields. When the shields dropped the Asgard destroyed the Asurans with the replicator disruptors aboard their ships. Then they jumped to hyperspace with UEC Marines and Lantean engineers and captured Asuras. We know have two city ships, an entire planet covered in highly advanced structures based on the older technology we gave the Lanteans, and twelve more shipyards."

General Hammond was so stunned he had to sit down. He looked up at the viewscreen. "No one was killed or hurt?" For the first time that thought struck Ayiana and she found herself having to sit down too. "No Sir. Not one single person, Asgard, Lantean, or human was so much as scratched." She paused for a minute to absorb that herself. "We were either really lucky, really good, or someone is watching out for us."

The General smiled up at her. "Maybe a little of all three. Good job Ayiana and tell your people I said so please. That's probably the best news I have heard since this whole thing began. Now on to what I was going to call you about." He stood up and picked up a remote. The view moved off of the General and focused on the screen he turned on.

"This was recovered today after it killed over one hundred Jaffa and a Goa'uld, one of the minor System Lords." She saw a man sized figure encased in a deep black armor. It changed to the same figure with the helmet removed and she almost lost her lunch. "What is that General? It doesn't even look fully developed." General Hammond smiled. "That's what we've determined. What we want you to determine is how the armor was made and if you can duplicate it. It is completely impervious to energy weapons, projectile weapons, and most explosives. We can't punch through it with phasers, ion rifles, or even armor piercing .50 caliber weapons using naquadah enhanced bullets." Ayiana was totally shocked.

"Send it and all of the data you have collected so far and we'll get right to work on it. Between myself, the Lanteans, and the Asgard, I bet we can have you an answer by the end of next week if not sooner." With that General Hammond smiled. "I have no doubt in my mind that you'll do just that Director. We'll dial you back and send it through as soon as the gate shuts down, Avalon out." With that the gate shut down then immediately began to dial again. When the gate reactivated she heard Hammonds voice. "Ok Director, the data is being transmitted now and we're sending the Super Soldier for lack of a better term through." She nodded at the technician who lowered the shield that automatically activates when an incoming wormhole begins to connect.

Ayiana smiled when she recognized the person pulling the Super Soldier through the gate on an anti-grav gurney. "Sam, what a wonderful surprise and congratulations." She said as she hugged the newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Carter. "It's good to see you again Ayiana. General Hammond figured the best way for me to help back home right now is to be with you guys every step of the way with this. If we can figure out how not only to defeat but to reverse engineer this armor and these, we'll be that much closer to winning this once and for all." She said as she pointed to the small weapons on the wrist of each of Super Soldiers arms. "Well then Sam, follow me." She said as she grabbed Sam's hand and motioned for one of the Marines to follow with the gurney.

**Well I think I'll end this chapter here. Yes I know it's not your traditional cliff hanger and the UEC is now in a stronger position than they have ever been. And yes, so far this has been a mostly one sided massacre in favor of the UEC. But think about the Wraith having defeated the Lanteans. The Lanteans had far superior technology but absolutely zero sense of tactics. They relied on their technological superiority to get them through as far as they made it. Then when push came to shove, they tucked tail and ran instead of adapting. Now enter the UEC with technology given to them by the Federation and add to that the fact they are being lead by an actual Ancient (Alteran) and you have something neither the Wraith nor the Asurans have ever seen before. Well I hope you enjoyed it and remember any review is appreciated even if they are bad ones against me. No review is bad, only the actions of the writer. The only true way to learn is to make mistakes, ADAPT, and move on. If you don't learn from your mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them.**

**Again a slight re-write to correct spacing and minor grammatical issues I spotted after reading the story again. I will be doing this to all completed chapters and then finish up the last chapter of this part of the story.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Unknown System**

**Near the outer Edge of the Pegasus Galaxy**

The UEC _Dauntless_and the UEC _Python_ were two of the _Defiant_ Class ships that had been paired up in the effort to keep the Wraith on the defensive. Captain Michael Jensen of the _Dauntless_ was anxiously watching the viewscreen as his ship and the _Python_ approached the system cloaked and at warp. They had picked up some unusual readings coming from a dead planet and were just about to drop out of warp to investigate.

As the two ships dropped out of warp, the _Dauntless_ was slightly in front of the _Python_. There were several ships vaguely the shape of a tube attached to a square engine housing waiting in a horse shoe formation in front of the drop out point. Though the two ships were cloaked, the _Dauntless_ was hit multiple times by energy weapon fire. The ablative armor protected the ship until a stray shot pierced the bridge. The _Python_ was shielded from the initial barrage and immediately dropped her cloak and engaged shields.

Captain Samuel McGee of the _Python_ began shouting orders. "Transporter room, lock onto as many lifesigns from the _Dauntless_ as you can and get them out of there! Helm, evasive pattern Epsilon Three get us out of here! Weapons, fire at will, keep them off of us until we can open a hyperspace window. Go to full active scans and get me as much information on those ships as you can!"

The _Python_ rolled firing both pulse phasers and quantum torpedoes. "Transporter room to Captain McGee, Captain, the Chief Engineer from the _Dauntless_ is requesting we swing back around and destroy the _Dauntless_. He was unable to activate the self destruct before we beamed him out. We managed to get twenty out of forty-five."

Captain McGee swore under his breath. "Helm, take us back to the _Dauntless_. Tactical, lock onto her and hit her with everything you've got." The powerful little warship turned and headed back into the battle.

"Captain, I'm getting good readings on the ships. We destroyed several of them with our first few volleys. It doesn't appear they would have been much of threat without the ambush. Shields are holding and not showing any sign of failing. If _Dauntless_ hadn't been caught with her shields down, this fight wouldn't have lasted long." To prove his point, he used the lateral phaser array to disable the weapons of the four remaining unknown ships. Since the ships were disabled he locked onto the _Dauntless_ with a tractor instead of destroying it.

Captain McGee nodded his head at his tactical officer. "Helm, get us out of here, best possible speed." With that the _Python_opened a hyperspace window and entered it towing the stricken ship. Captain McGee stood up and walked toward his ready room. "Number One, you have the bridge. Coms hail Atlantis and patch it through to my ready room. Also send them everything we got from the sensors."

His computer screen had risen out of his desk and was showing a blinking indicator that Atlantis was online and waiting for him by the time he sat down. "Director Ayiana, we ran into a major problem scouting the system that we picked up those strange readings from. We have the _Dauntless_ under tow and are heading back to Taranis. Captain Jensen and half the crew have been killed in a surprise attack by an unknown enemy. I have already forwarded the sensor readings to Atlantis."

Ayiana was shocked and saddened by the news. She turned when she heard Thor cursing in Asgard behind her. "Captain McGee, continue on to Taranis and I'll contact you again when you drop off the _Dauntless._ She closed the channel and turned to the diminutive alien. "Thor, what's wrong? It's a rare thing to hear an Asgard curse the way you just did."

Thor blinked and turned toward Ayiana. "Director, I fear the Asgard may be responsible for the attack on your ships and the death of your people." Thor stated. Ayiana was confused. "Why would you say that? Your people have been here or in the system and those don't look like any Asgard ship I have ever seen." Thor nodded his head.

"That is because you have never seen that model of ship. We only built a few over 10,000 years ago but we discontinued their use not long after. Those are Asgard transport vessels used mostly for interplanetary needs. They are lightly armed and shielded and I can only assume they are manned by a branch of the Asgard that split from the main Asgard people over philosophical differences more than 10,000 years ago." Thor then went into the story that the Vanir were a group of Asgard that took to experimenting on humans as a means to repair the damage of long term cloning.

"We did not know where the Vanir had gone but it seems either they came to this galaxy or someone has acquired Asgard technology. Either way we have to investigate."

Ayiana quietly sat through the story. She didn't interrupt but her brain was working furiously while she listened. She was deeply saddened by the plight of her long and dear Allies. Thor finished his tale then addressed her directly.

"This appears to be an internal problem the Asgard will deal with. I will keep you appraised as to our progress."

With that Thor beamed back to his flagship and the small Asgard fleet jumped to hyperspace. Once Thor and his fleet departed, Ayiana called Dr Beckett, Dr. Miriam (the CMO of the _Aurora_, Dr. McKay, and Dr. Zelenka her office. "I have a job for the four of you. I need you to scour the database and search for anything relating to Asgard DNA and cloning. The Asgard are suffering massive cellular degradation from relying on cloning to reproduce for tens of thousands of years."

"If I remember correctly, there might be an answer to their problem somewhere in the database. We need to find it and the sooner the better. Are there any questions?" When no one asked anything she nodded. "Ok, then, you know what we need to do, dismissed."

**Outer edge of Pegasus galaxy**

**Possible Vanir planet**

Thor and his fleet of Asgard ships dropped out of hyperspace in the system the two UEC ships had been ambushed at and took a stationary orbit around the dead world. "This is Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet. You have committed an act of war against allies of the Asgard and I demand you respond."

A few seconds later an Asgard a little larger than Thor and his brethren, appeared in a hologram. "Hello Thor. We did not know the ships we attacked were an ally of the Asgard or we would have left them alone. The last thing we wanted when we came to this galaxy was to be discovered by the Aesir." Thor growled silently to himself.

"An, I should have known you were behind this. The Council thought you had been killed in that temporal incident on Midgard. You were forbidden from experimenting on humans so you fled and continued here."

An wasn't happy. "Of course we fled to continue here. It was the perfect place until the Wraith drove out the Lanteans and turned their attention to us. But as you can see we did make some progress before we were forced to relocate to this dead world."

Thor made a rude sound. "The end does not justify the means An. We were tasked with protecting the humans not using them as lab experiments."

"Thor, we are dying. I will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening. I will use whatever means necessary to save our race."

Thor shook his head. "I cannot allow you to continue experimenting on humans." With that he moved the stones on his control panel and beamed all the humans from the small base onto his ship. His fleet moved into low orbit and destroyed the ships sitting on the surface.

"We have destroyed your ships and the means for you to leave this planet. We have also removed the humans from your base. I will be leaving a shielded stealth satellite in the system that will prevent you from attempting to leave. Your punishment will be permanent banishment on this planet."

An screamed as Thor cut the holographic transmission and his fleet jumped back into hyperspace towards Atlantis. Little did Thor realize, others would soon spoil his plans and in a very bad way.

When Thor and his fleet arrived back at Atlantis, they had been gone just over three hours. Ayiana is sitting in her office with an obviously excited Dr. Zelenka when Thor beams in. "Ah Thor, perfect timing. Dr. Zelenka was just telling me he might have found something that would help your people with their cloning problems." She turned her screen so Thor could see the data. "This will help considerably but is still not a permanent solution."

Dr. Zelenka spoke up. "No, you are right, it is not a permanent solution but it will buy you time to hopefully find a more permanent one." Thor was about to answer when there was an audible beep. Thor looked down at his hand. "I must go. I will return soon." Thor then beamed back to his ship and his O'Neill class warship jumped into hyperspace. Ayiana and Dr. Zelenka both looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**In orbit of Adara II**

A single Goa'uld Ha'tak was sitting in orbit above the planet when Thor dropped out of hyperspace. "Goa'uld vessel, I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet. You are in violation of the Protected Planets Treaty. Leave now or be destroyed."

When no response came, Thor opened fire. The Ha'tak survived the first salvo which surprised Thor as most times, even with the Beliskner, the first shot destroyed the Goa'uld ships. But his time spent with humans had taught him a few things. While the Goa'uld Tanith was gloating, two Beliskner Class and the other O'Neill class tore out of hyperspace, weapons blazing. Even the enhanced shields of the Ha'tak could not withstand that much firepower. Tanith and his Ha'tak disappeared in a blazing fireball. Thor activated his comsystem.

"Heimdall, this is Thor. Prepare all research material and set the self destruct for the lab. I will transport you and all of your research to Atlantis where you can continue your work." After a few seconds Heimdall replied. "All research has been compiled and I am standing by for transport." Thor moved a stone and Heimdall was transported aboard the O'Neill. "The Atlantis Expedition has found something in the Alteran databanks that may assist you in your research." Thor stated simply before opening a hyperspace window back to Atlantis. The other ships he had brought with him had already jumped away. As Thor's ship entered hyperspace, a bright flash of light illuminated a small area of the planet as the lab vaporized itself when the self destruct activated.

**Abydos System**

**One Week after the incident at Adara II**

Anubis was not happy with the loss of one of his ships to the Asgard and one a few weeks earlier over the new Tollan homeworld. Had the first ship not have been lost testing the new shields against the Tollan ion cannons, he wouldn't be here at Abydos just yet. The unexpected modification to the Tollan ion cannons had forced his hand earlier than he would have liked to have moved on the old artifacts. When he went to Abydos searching for the relic left behind by Ra, he took his massive flagship and ten upgraded Ha'taks. He was even less happy when he dropped from hyperspace, was scanned by defense satellites that shouldn't exist in this system, then fired upon by said satellites.

The highly upgraded shields held but just the thought of being attacked by a force he didn't know was at Abydos got under his skin. He knew the Tau'ri had received outside help and had thoroughly thrashed then killed Apophis but he did not know they had set up in the Abydos system as well. The distinct difference here was the Abydonians didn't have the Tollan ion cannons or the Asgard ion guns. They had nothing he had thought, until the pulse phasers and photon torpedoes slammed into his fleet.

The pulse phaser turrets did little damage to the upgraded shields on his ships. The photon torpedoes fared slightly better but did not drop the shields alarmingly as had the ion weapons of the Tollan and Asgard. As his fleet returned fire, the damage to his shields began to slack off as turrets were destroyed and soon his fleet was once again on the move toward the planet. Several ships chose that moment to shimmer into existence and commence an attack on his ships. There had already been one ship orbiting the planet that was less than half as long as his Ha'taks.

That vessel launched a number of smaller vessels that made low passes over the planet before turning away from Anubis' fleet and disappearing. More vessels were detected launching from the surface and Anubis could detect that the gate was active as well. When the first volleys were fired from the defense satellites, Anubis had thought the Abydonians had found some of Ra's technology and learned to use it.

His sensors showed it wasn't the Abydonians but the accursed humans that had assaulted Apophis and executed him. But his ships were not the feeble and weak ships the System Lords use. His were enhanced with Alteran based weapons and shields. Though the shields and weapons Anubis had developed weren't nearly as strong as the Alteran equivalent, they were far more powerful than the normal ones the Goa'uld used. Still the battle didn't quite go the way he wanted.

The Tau'ri ships were very maneuverable and extremely hard to target for his Ha'taks. There were five ships that were several times the size of an Al'kesh but significantly smaller than a Ha'tak much less his flagship. They were using "wolfpack" tactics now that their initial single strikes had proved ineffective. Anubis screamed in anger as he watched the small, agile ships swarm around his Ha'taks unleashing a massive amount of firepower.

"**_Get us closer to the Ha'taks now! And order the other Ha'taks to converge on those ships!"_** He screamed to his First Prime. "As you command my liege." His First Prime acknowledged. The battle raged for thirty more minutes before his fleet destroyed two of the little ships and badly damaging two more. The fifth took minor damage and escaped into hyperspace after the four remaining UEC ships beamed the larger items that couldn't be moved through the gate off of Abydos. Their escape only served to enrage Anubis even more. He lost three Ha'taks to the infernal little ships that proved very hard to target and destroy.

The larger ship that had been in orbit had withdrawn far out of range of his fleet, engaged its cloak, and had not joined in the defense of the planet. This puzzled Anubis greatly and he ordered the ships remaining in his fleet to find, attack, and capture the ship.

**45 minutes earlier**

**Abydos System**

The tactical officer aboard the _Intrepid_ picked up a ripple of approaching ships in hyperspace. "Captain Anderson, I'm detecting a fleet of ships on course for this planet. They are ten minutes from exiting hyperspace. One of them is huge Sir; it's 2,000 meters in diameter." Captain Anderson's face went pale. "That can only be this Anubis we've heard of. Begin evacuation of the planet. Have the _Monitor_ and its wing cloak and hit them in "Wolfpack" formation as soon as the turrets engage. Launch all shuttles and start transporting as many people as they can to Avalon. Hail Avalon and advise them of the situation."

A few minutes later, General Hammond was deciding what to do. "Captain, we need as much information as possible on those ships. Continue with your plan to have the destroyer wing engage but the _Intrepid_ is not to engage. I repeat under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy. Back off to maximum sensor range and record as much information as you can then get out of there."

Captain Anderson wasn't happy with that. "Sir, the destroyer wing will be slaughtered if I don't assist them." General Hammond stood firm. "Captain, I understand your concern but each and every person on those ships knew what the risk of signing up for this job was. Just make sure you get the information we need and get it out of there so any losses won't be in vain."

"Yes Sir, we will do as you order. I just don't feel right about this." General Hammond just nodded his head. "I understand Captain, I really do. I don't like having to give these type of orders but sometimes the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. If you can get some solid sensor readings, hopefully we can succeed where the System Lords have been failing."

Captain Anderson fumed from a safe distance under cloak as his tactical officer ran active scan after active scan of the battle. Anderson just had to stand on the hope that their scans would reveal a weakness in the strength of Anubis. He felt physically sick as he watched two of the _Defiants_ explode as their shields failed and their ablative armor was breached. He was extremely relieved when a signal came from the surface. "_Intrepid_ this is Daniel Jackson. The last Abydonian has been evacuated through the gate and I am following now. The planet is cleaned out of any technology and empty. You can beam the gate and the larger things we couldn't send through the gate up in one minute then you and the destroyer wing need to leave as well."

"Acknowledged Daniel, we'll come and get the gate in one minute. Coms signal what's left of the wing to disengage and get the hell out of here while they can." The few weeks Daniel had been back on Abydos with his wife, he had utilized the _Intrepid's_advanced sensors to find any and all technology that Ra had left. Most of the smaller items had already been moved to either Earth or Avalon for further study.

The _Intrepid_ and the three surviving _Defiants_ arrived back at Avalon after just over an hour in hyperspace. "Send everything we picked up on sensors to Avalon Command. I'll be beaming over in a few minutes as well."

Fifteen minutes later Captain Anderson was sitting in the conference room of Starbase One in orbit above Avalon. General Hammond was seated at the head of the table in silence. Captain Anderson was still fuming from the orders he had followed until General Hammond raised his head enough for everyone to see the streaks from tears on his cheeks.

He began quietly in a barely audible whisper. "Sometimes we have to give orders that we know will result in the death of people we care dearly about. I may not have personally known every single person on the UEC _Monitor_or _Saladin_ but I take the loss of every soul aboard them as if they were my own children. I can only hope their sacrifice will prove to have been worth it. Let's have a moment of silence to honor our fallen comrades."

After the moment of silence, General Hammond cleared his throat and spoke again. "Ok, what did we get on sensors?" Captain Anderson stood and looked toward the General with renewed respect and nodded his head. "Unfortunately not much Sir." He pointed the remote at the center of the table and pushed play.

As a 3D hologram of the battle began to play, he narrated. "The shields on his ships as well as his weapons were significantly stronger than any Goa'uld we've run up against so far. The destroyer wing was able to destroy three of the Ha'taks but it wasn't easy." He hit a button that zoomed in on just one Ha'tak. "As you can see here, the destroyers were able to isolate one ship and concentrate everything they had against it. But in doing that, they left themselves vulnerable to attacks from flanking ships. Then once Anubis brought his flagship into the fight, we lost two destroyers and the other three took light to heavy damage."

"The shields took concentrated strikes from both the pulse cannons and quantum torpedoes to weaken them enough to penetrate. They actually rotate frequencies nearly as fast as our regenerative layered shields. It was almost impossible to match frequencies consistently but we got lucky a time or two. I wouldn't recommend relying on that as a standard tactic."

General Hammond thought for a few seconds. "I think we need to concentrate our fleets in Avalon, Earth, and the home systems of our Allies here in the Milky Way. For now we'll hold off on the exploration by ships and increase our turret defenses as well. Do we have the blueprints for the LGPS that Ayiana sent us?"

When he received the affirmative that they had he continued. "Have we started placing them in systems?" Again he received a positive answer. "Good, also forward all of the sensor readings from the encounter with Anubis to Atlantis. We'll see what Ayiana and her team can come up with on this. If there's nothing else, memorial services will be held at 1600 for the crews of the _Monitor_ and _Saladin _along with the few lost from other ships, dismissed."

**Back at Atlantis**

Ayiana and her team had just finished going over the sensor readings received from the battle. "Ok team, you've seen the readings and I want your opinions before I share my thoughts." One of the Lantean scientists looked up and without hesitation spoke up. "His shields are much more powerful than normal Goa'uld shields, his weapons as well. From what I gather from my interpretation of these readings, he is using Alteran shields and possibly an Alteran power supply as well."

Ayiana smiled. "Almost every bit of Goa'uld technology is reverse engineered, poorly I would add, Alteran technology. Anubis seems to have found a way to more efficiently reverse engineer our shields and older weapons technology. From what I see from the readings, our ships and the Asgard ships stand the best chance against Anubis."

Thor had returned from his short fight with one of Anubis' ships over Adara II. He had shared his sensor readings with Ayiana when they learned of the attack by Anubis on Abydos. He now added his opinion. "I agree with Ayiana, that ours and the Alteran ships will fare much better against Anubis' upgraded vessels. I would also suggest increasing your drone reserves at the Antarctic outpost as well as sending some of the Lanteans to Avalon and our home galaxy to build a drone factory in each."

Ayiana nodded in resignation. "Rodney, I want you to get together all of the crates of the new drones and be ready to ship them as soon as possible. Hopefully that will hold the Milky Way until the drone factory there is up and running. If there is nothing else, I will contact General Hammond with our findings on not only the battle but the Super Soldier's armor. Thor, you may take your fleet to Avalon whenever you are ready. Colonel Caldwell, take the _Avenger_and the rest of the Alteran ships and make your best speed to Avalon as well." She could see Colonel Caldwell was not happy with her orders.

"Colonel, if it will make you feel better, when I contact General Hammond, I'll ask him to send more UEC built ships here. We've already seen they are extremely effective against the Wraith. But they are extremely ineffective against Anubis and his technology."

Caldwell thought about that a bit. "It's not a perfect solution but it would make me feel a little better if you had ships to replace what we are sending to fight Anubis."

Thor stepped forward and spoke up. "I will leave immediately with my nine ships and assist in bringing the UEC built ships here. If we make three trips towing two ships each time we will be able to bring fifty-four vessels to protect your assets in the Pegasus galaxy. I will also contact the Asgard High Council and attempt to get additional ships to help speed the defeat of Anubis."

With that Thor and the few Asgard on Atlantis beamed to their ships along with the UEC and Lantean crews and jumped into hyperspace with the Alteran warships in tow. Ayiana then headed to the control room to dial Avalon and talk with General Hammond.

As she entered the control room she looked toward the technician at the main console. "Dial Avalon please," She said politely. The gate finished dialing and Ayiana waited for General Hammond to come online.

"General, I have dispatched the nine Asgard ships and the five Alteran ships to Avalon to help fight Anubis. Our analysis shows they will fare much better against Anubis' upgrades than the UEC constructed ships. I also had Dr. McKay get our latest batch of drones with the Tollan phase technology integrated, crated up and will be sending them through momentarily. I've also authorized the Lanteans that are accompanying the Alteran warships to construct drone factories at Avalon, Earth, and Othala."

General Hammond started to protest. "Please General, don't override my orders. You know our ships are much more resilient than yours. It is a quicker solution than to try to build new ships with stronger shields and weapons in time to defeat Anubis. Once this crisis is dealt with, we will help you design a ship from the ground up that incorporates all of our best technologies. It's the least we can do for allowing this threat to get so out of control. All I would ask, is you send your ships here as they have proved very effective against the Wraith."

Rodney had been shuttling crates of drones through the gate while Ayiana and the General talked. General Hammond was quiet for a bit. "Ayiana, even if I sent the fleet right now, it would be two weeks before they reach you." Just then he was informed that the Asgard Task Force had been picked up on the long range sensors as they entered the outer edge of the Milky Way. Ayiana smiled coyly at the General. "Not with the Asgard towing them Sir."

Before General Hammond could interrupt, Ayiana continued. "We've made some progress on the Super Armor you sent but we are still not able to duplicate it yet. As you know, it is impervious to energy weapons; it has also proved very resistant to sensors. Dr. McKay, Dr. Zelenka, and Colonel Sheppard may have come up with a way to defeat it though." She paused and had Rodney take over.

"General, it wasn't easy but we took a page from a science fiction movie and came up with power armor that has enough firepower to penetrate the armor. I'm sorry but we destroyed the chest plate. I give you the M-5 Mauler Power Armor." He paused to let the General see the hologram.

"It is powered by a miniature naquadah reactor. Each arm can use a variety of attachable weapons systems or manipulator claws. The arm weapons that proved the most promising on the prototype have been a high powered GEF (Gatling Effect Fire) auto cannon and a GEF plasma repeater. The GEF cannon is a rotary barrel railgun similar is kind of a combination the one used on the A-10 Thunderbolt and our current railguns. It fires a trinium/naquadah/carbon (courtesy of the Asgard) projectile at hyper-sonic velocities. It's the same concept of our railguns but with the latest power supply enhancements Ayiana came up with, it over heats the barrel in our standard railguns. So we adopted a rotary system to allow the barrels to cool quicker."

The plasma repeater was the easiest part to duplicate. We went with a rotary barrel system there also that allows and even higher rate of fire than the repeaters the Super Soldiers use. The shoulders also have a multi-mount system with several different attachments. What we've come up with so far is a staff cannon sized ion cannon, rocket pods that can load several types of rockets or missiles, additional sensor packages, or spot lights." He paused to take a deep breath before continuing.

"The suit itself has an onboard computer and a full sensor suite that allows continuous tracking and persecution of multiple targets. It is fully self-contained for use in chemical environments or an oxygen free environment like the moon. The suit has a twenty-four hour supply of oxygen and is air droppable or capable of orbital insertion using the built in thruster pack. The shield can hold up to limited fire from standard ship mounted phasers, death glider staff cannons, and the plasma repeaters used by Super Soldiers. Granted the ship based weapons knocked the Mauler over thirty meters on impact but other than being a bit rattled, the pilot and armor were unharmed."

General Hammond looked up in shock. "Wait a minute. You fired on the armor with starship mounted weapons WHILE someone was in it? Are you crazy" Rodney blinked and looked toward Ayiana for support. Ayiana put her hands up in front of her and shook her head while trying not to burst out laughing.

"Well, Colonel Sheppard didn't get in the armor until we tested it remotely several times. We had to see how a pilot would react and how long it took to recover from being knocked rolling." General Hammond knew he was right but couldn't resist teasing McKay some more. "YOU PUT YOUR BEST PILOT IN THERE AND SHOT A STARSHIP PHASER AT HIM?!" Rodney began stammering and trying to explain when he saw Sheppard and Ayiana fighting so hard not to laugh. That's when he realized the General teasing him.

"Oh funny. Hardy har har. That's it; just have a good laugh at my expense." But then when he thought about it, he couldn't help but laugh too."I guess we did need a good laugh after the last few days." General Hammond stopped laughing long enough to tell Dr. McKay to continue. So Rodney did.

"I have to reiterate the suit can only sustain the shields for two or three shots from the starship based phasers before failing. They stood up to multiple shots from the Goa'uld staff cannon for several hours before failing. The armor itself is also made of the same trinium/naquadah/carbon alloy as the projectiles. The power servos allow the pilot to be almost as agile as a non armored human even though the suit weighs nearly half a ton. It would weigh nearly six tons if we used standard steel and titanium. A squad of these should be able to handle any situation they encounter." Rodney ended his presentation grinning like a proud father.

Ayiana stepped forward and thanked Rodney before addressing the General again. "We should have the first dozen completed in a couple of days General. Until then, I will send Colonel Sheppard though in the proto-type to begin training your people on the finer points of handling a Mauler Power Suit. We'll keep working on trying to duplicate Anubis' armor. I'm sure once we figure out how to scan the material; we will be able to come up with an acceptable facsimile."

General Hammond nodded still smiling. "You've done well just figuring a way to defeat it. You may have just won this war. I'll contact you again if we come across anything that will help in your research, Avalon out." With that the connection disconnected and the gate powered down.

Over the next several hours, Asgard ships made several trips to and from the Milky Way towing UEC ships. With the _Defiant_and _Saber_class they could tow four at a time. With the _Intrepid, Norway,_ and _Akira_ class, they could only tow two at a time safely. With the heavy cruisers and dreadnoughts, each Asgard ship could only tow one a time.

When it was all said and done, the Pegasus expedition had a decent sized fleet of sixty-five ships. The fleet consisted of (from largest to smallest), one _Ascension_class dreadnought, three _Sovereign_class heavy cruisers, four _Galaxy_ class heavy cruisers, four _Prometheus_ class multi-vector assault cruisers, five _Akira_ class battle cruisers, three _Armitage_class carriers, five _Norway_ class light cruisers, ten _Intrepid_ class light cruisers, ten _Saber_class light cruisers, and twenty _Defiant_class escort cruisers (destroyers). This was not counting the ships being built in the shipyards on Taranis and Asuras.

One of those ships being built is the brain child of Dr. McKay, Col. Sheppard, and Lt. Col. Carter. It was 4,000 meters long and looked like the skeleton of a human torso. In actuality, it was a mobile shipyard that could handle ships from the _Saber_ class light cruiser, all the way up to an _Aurora_ class warship. It could not only repair ships on the move, it could also construct any ship in the database. The future was looking good for the UEC in the Pegasus galaxy. The reality was it was about to take a very bad turn for the worse.

**Vanir Planet**

An had ordered the construction of another ship to try and escape the planet Thor had imprisoned the Vanir on. His sensors had not detected any type of satellite as he didn't know the Asgard were now using Romulan cloaking technology that the Federation had brought to this reality. He had decided to call Thor's bluff and was extremely surprised when an unknown contact appeared on his sensors and fired a coherent plasma beam to destroy the ship on which construction had just begun. He tried moving the construction underground and making a smaller ship. The satellite still detected the construction and fired a type of missile the Lanteans called drones to destroy the underground construction.

An then tried a new tactic. He purposely had construction begin in the open to lure the satellite out to try and destroy it. The Vanir were able to hit the satellite several times but the shields were entirely too strong and held up to the weapons fire easily. Obviously the Alliance between the Asgard and the Lanteans had progressed much further than An had anticipated. The satellite was clearly a combination of both races technologies. He believed he could develop a weapon powerful enough to defeat the shields but he did not have the resources on this planet to build it. He was out of options except for one. He had no idea how his only option left would affect the future of his people but he felt he had no other choice but to try.

To this end, he composed a message and used an extremely narrow beamed carrier wave to send a micro-data burst that was short enough to be hidden in the normal background noise of the universe. The satellite actually picked up the transmission but its computer did not register it as anything other than normal background static. The message had contained the sensor readings of the satellite including a possible blind spot for the satellites sensors. The only way to know if he was right was to wait and see if his theory was accurate. The message reached its intended target and the Pegasus galaxy as it was, was about to change in a very big and bad way.

**Asuras**

**Heimdall's Laboratory**

After the Asurans had been defeated and their homeworld of Asuras taken by the UEC, Heimdall had relocated his lab to the city ship also called Asuras. The Asuran Replicators had built and extensive genetics laboratory following in the footsteps of their creators. Several geneticists from Earth and a Trill from the Federation members that stayed were assisting him in trying to find a cure for the Asgard cloning defects.

The genetic diagrams that Dr. Zelenka had discovered in the Alteran database combined with the actual Asgard body that Heimdall had been studying at Adara II had led to a breakthrough of epic proportions. Lying in front of Heimdall on a table was a newly cloned body that could have stepped right out of the pages of an epic Viking novel. This had been tried before and proved ineffective as the normal human brain could not contain the vast knowledge or consciousness of the highly advanced Asgard.

The difference here was made possible by the diagrams in the database detailing a marriage between an Asgard and an Alteran BEFORE the Asgard ceased to be able to propagate sexually. This had happened millennia before the Alliance between the two great races. Two lost souls, one from each race, had found each other after a test of a prototype hyperdrive had malfunctioned; leaving the Asgard stranded and badly injured on an isolated planet the Alteran had chose to sequester herself on for research purposes.

When Heimdall had actually read through the entire section in the database containing the genetic diagram, he had been utterly astonished. It was a story straight out of Asgard legend that was believed to be pure myth. The Asgard test pilot was named Borr and the Alteran scientist that had rescued him from his crashed ship and nursed him back to health was none other than Bestia. The Father and Mother of Odin! Heimdall found this almost impossible to believe. But deep down he knew it was true. The Asgard had advanced through the mixture of Alteran DNA and their own. If the Asgard had continued along that path instead of reverting to cloning, the Asgard race would most likely have followed in the footsteps of the Alterans and ascended.

With the help of the Tau'ri (from both dimensions) and the Lanteans, Heimdall had isolated the Alteran and Asgard DNA and succeeded in creating a clone that could reproduce normally without cloning and still contain the massive intellect of the Asgard. Yes it was still a clone. But once this clone and the next proved they could have a child, only one series of clones would be needed. The children of the clones should be able to reproduce the same as humans, Alterans, and the Asgard had done before cloning.

Heimdall ran test after test on the body of the Warrior clone and decided it was ready to try and download the consciousness of an Asgard into the body. He was going to use his own but was talked out of it by the Trill Scientist, Dr. Emery Lex. So Heimdall contacted the Asgard High Council and requested one of the stored Asgard consciousness' be sent to him. When he received the pod that contained the requested consciousness he was slightly amused the High Council had sent Baldur.

In Norse Mythology, Baldur was the god of beauty, innocence, peace, and rebirth. It was the last one that Heimdall thought made this ironically appropriate. Heimdall looked up in curiosity as the gate had not shut down after the pod came through. He was about to ask why, when a second pod emerged from the gate. Really curious now, Heimdall approached the pod and laughed (to himself of course) as he read the name plate on the pod. It stated simply, Nanna, wife to Baldur.

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Earth and Avalon**

The Lantean technicians that Ayiana had sent with the Task Force had immediately gone to work constructing a drone factory on Earth and Avalon. It was easier on Avalon as everyone on the planet was either Military or a part of the UEC. After the Asgard ships had finished transferring UEC Warships to the Pegasus galaxy they had begun constructing more defensive satellites in both systems as well. The Avalon system was loaded with both cloaked and uncloaked satellites.

Around the Sol system, all the satellites still needed to be cloaked as the stargate program and the UEC Alliance were still secret. On Earth the Control Chair and the entire Antarctic outpost had been relocated to the Alaskan island of St. Lawrence by the Lanteans and Asgard. Using Asgard beaming technology the process had only taken a few hours to build the new secret base under the newly refurbished Northeast Cape Air force Station and transfer everything to it.

The US Government was preparing to reveal the stargate program and didn't want the international community to throw a fit for them having a Military base in the Antarctic. McMurdo was a base but was a scientific research base that hosted multiple nations even though it was United States owned and ran. Several medical and other technologies were already being released to the general public but their source was still secret. They were just released as breakthroughs from already ongoing research.

Thor was in his Command Ship near Avalon waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from the Asgard High Council. They had told him of Heimdall's breakthrough and that they were sending five more newly completed _O'Neill_class warships to help in the fight with Anubis thus bringing the total number in the Asgard fleet to fourteen. That brought the total number of advanced alien warships to nineteen with the five Alteran warships added in.

Once the other ships arrived, Thor would lead the combined fleet in an assault directly on the base where the UEC _Shade_ was lost. The Tok'ra had managed to learn that base, now known to be Tartarus, was the main staging area and research facility for Anubis. The goal was not to destroy the base but to capture it and try to gain access to the research and technology Anubis was working on.

To accomplish the goal of capturing the base, four brand new _Iwo Jima II_ assault ships would be accompanying the Asgard/Alteran fleet. The _Iwo Jima II_'s were a massive upgrade from the original _Iwo Jima_assault ship. The originals carried 1,250 Marines and their equipment. The upgraded II's could carry 3,000 Marines and their equipment. Only one of the assault ships carried an Earth based force, the other four held two Pangaran Marine Regiments and two Tagrean Marine Regiments both outfitted with Federation Battle Armor and carrying the new AR-116 assault rifle of course.

The AR-116 is a newly created railgun that Dr. Lee had come up with in his attempts to defeat the Kull armor. It fired a trinium sabot at hyper-velocity and could easily penetrate any armor the Federation had gifted them with. It had also shown to be very effective against Jaffa battle armor so the UEC had adopted it in hopes of using it to defeat the Kull Warriors of Anubis.

To provide cover for the assault ships, the Lanteans (with Ayiana's direction) had helped develop an interface for a ZPM on five of the newest Flight II _Defiant_ class destroyers. The Flight II's had eight pulse cannons instead of four and two additional rapid fire forward torpedo tubes. The Asgard had supplied the shield designs for the new ships as well. This battle would be a test of the design to see how well they held up.

Selmac/Jacob Carter had worn the captured armor of what the Tok'ra had learned was called a Kull Warrior. The Tau'ri still called it a Super Soldier though. They had learned the sensor net around Tartarus could detect even the Romulan cloaking system the Federation had gifted to the Tau'ri. So the sensor net had to be shut down from the inside before the assault could begin.

Forty-five minutes after Selmac had walked through the gate, a light on Thor's console lit up. He moved a stone on his console. "Thor to assault fleet, the sensor net is down. All ships proceed with attack." With that a combined task force of fourteen Asgard, five Alteran, and ten UEC ships jumped into hyperspace.

As the task force dropped out of hyperspace near Tartarus, another fleet was dropping out of hyperspace as well but only near Earth.

**Stargate Command**

**Earth**

"Sir, hyperspace sensors are detecting a large fleet of ships in hyperspace in route to Earth!" The technician at the station Chief Master Sergeant Harriman used to sit at screamed. General Hank Landry came running down the steps from his office. "Power up all defense satellites but hold the LGPS for last. Send the interrogator signal (I.S.). Use phaser and torpedo turrets first. Get me St. Lawrence on the line. Notify the President and the Joint Chiefs. Get a message to Avalon and apprise them of our situation."

"No response from the I.S. Sir." A few seconds later St. Lawrence responded that a Lantean was in the control chair awaiting further orders. General Landry thought for a minute. "Hold the drones off until the last minute. We'll use the turrets and LGPS first and hold the drones as an ace in the hole."

The technician looked toward the General. "All turrets show ready to decloak and fire on your order Sir." Landry flashed him an evil smile. "Hold for now, let's see what he does." His face went pale white in the next few seconds.

**_"People of the Tau'ri, I am your God, Anubis. Bow down and worship me or be destroyed."_** Hank hoped it was only a broadcast that the Military was picking up until he saw the face of the technician and knew better. "Sir, the ships are moving toward Earth now but they are still on the other side of the asteroid belt." Landry shook his head slowly. "Oh crap, there goes disclosure. Decloak the satellites and fire at will." With that order, over fifty pulse phaser and torpedo turrets shimmered into existence and open fire. As the upgraded shields of the Ha'taks began taking multiple hits, the weapons of the same Ha'taks began to return fire.

The phaser turrets were the first to start taking hits as they were the closest to Anubis' fleet. So far the shields of all the turrets were holding. "Sir, we're hitting his ships but so far his shields are holding." The technician reported. "Use manual override on each satellite and concentrate their fire on single ships. Prepare to decloak the LGPS on my mark." General Landry ordered.

When several technicians overrode the controls and manually targeted the turrets, several things began to happen at once. One Ha'tak in the lead lost its shields under the combined fire of four phaser turrets and three torpedo turrets firing quantum torpedoes. A cheer went up as the first ship in Anubis' fleet exploded in a bright fireball. The joy was short lived as the massive mothership in the center of the formation began to move forward destroying several turrets. "LGPS now! Tell St. Lawrence to fire the drones ten seconds after the LGPS engage." General Landry ordered.

Several LGPS shimmer into view and open fire on the fleet destroying multiple Ha'taks in one shot. As they recharge and retarget, a stream of drones tore out of their launchers under St. Lawrence Air Station and poured into the sky. As the drones close on the fleet, the LGPS have shifted position to target more ships. Two target Anubis' flagship and open fire as the stream of drones rip through the lead elements of the fleet.

**Anubis' Flagship**

Her'ak, the First Prime of Anubis looked toward his master. "My Lord! Our shields are ineffective against the Tau'ri weapons! They are tearing the fleet apart! Anubis throws his hand in front of his face...**_"NNNNOOOOOO!"_** As thousands of upgraded drones tear through the Pel'tak of the ship while two energy beams lance through the outer portions of the ship from the Alteran LGPS.

**Tartarus**

**Simultaneous to the attack on Earth**

As the task force dropped out of hyperspace at Tartarus, they were met by two Ha'taks patrolling the system. The Ha'taks immediately launched Death Gliders and opened fire on the ships of the task force. The seven _O'Neill_class warships had been the spearhead of the formation and took the first few hits on their shields before their combined ion guns obliterated the two Goa'uld vessels. The shields, even though they were enhanced, collapsed in mere seconds under that much combined firepower. The instant the Ha'taks exploded, the Death Gliders that were not caught in the explosion tried to break away and head for the planet.

The five Flight II _Defiants,_were led by the newly healed Captain Halsey in his new ship the UEC _Revenge_. Captain Halsey noticed the Death Gliders moving toward the planet where he and his "Wolfpack" of destroyers were screening the assault ships. "Alright Wolfpack Two and Three remove those Death Gliders from my stars. Everyone else hold tight to our current pattern while those assault ships get to the planet."

Just then his tactical officer spoke up. "Captain, I'm detecting several areas on the planet with large energy signatures and they are growing in strength." Captain Halsey snapped his head up. "You mean orbital weapons charging?" His tactical officer looked again at his readings. "I believe so Captain but it's hard to tell with all the residual background radiation."

Halsey immediately jumped into action. "Wolfpack Four, follow us down. We think we detected orbital weapons about to fire on the assault ships. Helm attack pattern Epsilon Omega One, engage!" With that the two sleek new warships broke out of their defensive pattern and charged around the assault ships toward the planet. Just as they broke around the ships they were protecting, multiple streams of plasma fire slam into their ZPM enhanced shields. "Shields are holding at ninety percent Captain. I'm detecting twelve orbital cannons at strategic positions around the main building."

Captain Halsey nodded. "Target the six on the port side and have _Daedalus_ target the six on the starboard side. Phasers only until we see if we'll need to drop a quantum torpedo on their heads." His tactical sent the message to the UEC _Daedalus_ and locked the phaser cannons on target. Captain Halsey felt the ship shake a bit as the pulse cannon fired in controlled bursts. "Three cannons destroyed, one damaged, and two unaffected." Halsey acknowledged the report. "Helm, bring us around for another run. Tactical, fire at will." The _Revenge_and _Daedalus_each made a second pass destroying the remaining ground to orbit cannons. Captain Halsey was thoroughly impressed with the increase in power the ZPM gave the pulse cannons.

"Tell the assault ships they are clear to commence landings. We'll keep a lid on it up here." The assault fleet moved into low orbit and began beaming troops into the complex. There was sporadic fighting as the 15,000 troops and Colonel Sheppard in the Mauler Power Armor began moving through the complex and the parts of the planet that was habitable. The AR-116s worked well against the Kull armor as well as the few normal Jaffa in the complex. Colonel Sheppard found that the Mauler guns shredded anything he targeted...

While the fight was going on throughout the complex, the Asgard and Alteran ships began constructing phaser, torpedo, and LGPS defensive systems. Thor took five of the _O'Neills_ and patrolled the system in case reinforcements showed to back Anubis.

As Thor was patrolling the system with four of his sister ships, he received word that Anubis was attacking Earth in force. He had started to take all the Asgard ships to Earth immediately but was asked to wait and see if the defenses held. Thor decided to take one _Daniel Jackson_and five of the _O'Neills_ and jump to Earth anyway as Tartarus was secure.

As the troops were searching the base, a Marine Lieutenant contacted Jacob Carter. "General Carter, I think there's something you need to see on level four." SG-1 minus Sam had arrived with the assault ships so Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c and Daniel accompanied Jacob to level four. As the four of them arrived on level four, a Marine was waiting for them and escorted them to where the Lieutenant was. When they entered the room O'Neill couldn't believe his eyes. "Is that what I think it is?" He asked pointing at the tank in the center of the room.

"**_I believe it is Colonel O'Neill. It would appear this is the Queen that spawned the Goa'uld controlling the Kull Warriors. This will deal a devastating blow to Anubis and his war effort."_**__Selmac said as he raised his right arm and fired a sustained burst into the container from the plasma repeater on his wrist.

O'Neill looked toward General Carter. "Don't you think that is a little excessive Jacob? Aren't the Tok'ra usually more subtle than that?" Selmac spoke again. **_"Normally yes Colonel. But with the recovery of Egeria, we have more than tripled our numbers. We are now starting to relearn our former warrior traits that were lost with Egeria. Make no mistake; anyone that would ally with Anubis deserves to die. Anubis was banished from the Goa'uld System Lords for atrocities that even the Goa'uld could not condone."_**

**Avalon System**

Over one hundred Ha'taks were forced out of hyperspace well outside of the Avalon system. Ba'al, the instigator of the attack, became very angry. **_"What kind of incompetence is this? Do I have to do everything MYSELF?! Get us back into hyperspace now!"_** Ba'al screamed at his First Prime. "I'm sorry My Liege. I cannot nor can any other ship in the fleet. The enemy has placed hyperspace disrupters around their system. Sensors cannot detect them so they can be destroyed."

Ba'al's eyes flashed and he raised his hand toward the disappointment that was about to need a replacement as First Prime. Ba'al's Kara kesh flashed and his former First Prime was thrown across the Pel'tak where he was crushed against the far wall. **_"Then scan for the disruptor waves and fire on the highest concentration of them you incompetent imbecile."_**__

He turned toward another Jaffa standing in the Pel'tak. **_"You are now First Prime. Do not disappoint me as your predecessor did."_** The message was passed to the fleet and soon, a large portion of the fleet jumped back to hyperspace. The distraction had served its purpose and allowed Avalon to send out a message to Earth and fully alert the ships in the system.

Defense satellites all through the system powered up and charged weapons and launch systems. General Hammond was in the control room waiting. "Well, it seems the System Lords have decided to take advantage of our attack on Anubis. Put me through to the defense fleet." When Chief Master Sergeant Harriman nodded General Hammond began. "Ships of the defense fleet, you will be outnumbered by 10 to 1 odds but you will have the full support of this station and all defensive turrets. These are not the upgraded ships of Anubis. These are the same type of ships we have fought and beat before. Pick your targets wisely and keep moving, Gods speed and good hunting, Hammond out."

The eight _Saber_class light cruisers and the two _Defiant_ class destroyers cloaked and moved off in two groups of four _Sabers_ and one _Defiant_ and prepared for battle. The timing of the attack was a brilliant strategy on the part of the Goa'uld. Most of the UEC ships were now in the Pegasus galaxy and with the task force attacking Tartarus. General Hammond only hoped the small fleet, the defense turrets, and the massive starbase he was currently on would be enough.

The combined forces of the System Lords dropped from hyperspace near the orbit of Avalon. Ba'al was confident in their victory. **_"Order the fleet to open fire a des-."_**__He was not able to finish his order as he is knocked to the floor when multiple pulse cannon blasts and quantum torpedoes slam into his ship. Half of the fleet was struck by multiple types of weapon fire the instant they dropped out of hyperspace.

Ba'al slowly pulled himself upright in the smoke filled Pel'tak. Consoles sparked and flames filled the ship. **_"You insolent fools. I am a God, you cannot kill me. I will resurrect and come back at you even stronger."_**__The Goa'uld had been lying to their subjects for centuries and were actually starting to believe their own propaganda.

Forty Ha'taks were destroyed in the opening volley of the battle. The defense fleet had not joined the battle yet as their orders were to hold off then attack after the turrets engaged. Captain Singleton of _Cheyenne,_ the lead _Defiant,_ ordered his coms officer to connect him to the rest of the fleet. "Defense fleet, decloak and engage. Use your superior maneuverability and concentrate on the weakened ships first." With that order, the ten defending ships decloaked and opened fire on already damaged Ha'taks.

Ba'al was trying to make his way to the hanger deck to escape this soon to be slaughter. He was mumbling to himself as he pulled his way along the badly listing hallway. **_"I am a God. I cannot die. I will come back stronger than I have ever been. Then I will make these Shol'va pay dearly for betraying their Gods."_**

He would never get the chance to exact his revenge as four quantum torpedoes and multiple phasers slammed into his unshielded ship. Ba'al died in a massive fireball before he was halfway to the hanger deck.

The battle raged for nearly an hour more as the Goa'uld fleet took heavy fire from the defensive turrets and even the massive firepower that Starbase 1 wielded. The _Sabers_ did their best to stay on the move and avoid damage. It wasn't as easy as they had thought it would be. The Goa'uld Ha'tak was designed to fire in all directions so there were no blind spots to exploit. Five _Sabers_were destroyed outright and three were disabled before the battle was over. But the deaths were not in vain.

The System Lords were utterly decimated. Bastet was the only System Lord to survive the attack as she escaped into hyperspace from the rear of the fleet. She barely made it out with the single Ha'tak she was on and that one had sustained major damage. The rest of the ships she brought to the fight were destroyed by the UEC. The battle would have been a very different story if the System Lords would have had the same upgraded ships as Anubis. Fortunately for the UEC, that was not the case.

**Sol System**

**UEC Base (The Former SGC)**

A technician picks up incoming ships on the scanners. "Sir, I'm detecting several ships in hyperspace on a direct course for Earth." General Landry shook his head slowly. "When it rains it pours. Warm up all the satellites again and send the I.S." The technician did just that. "Sir, I'm getting a response. It's Thor and the Asgard." General Landry breathed a sigh of relief. "Stand down all stations. I'll be in my office on the phone with the President."

The six Asgard ships dropped out of hyperspace and took up a protective orbit around Earth. Thor directed the _Daniel Jackson_ to assist in any repairs or replacement of defensive satellites while the _O'Neills _guarded against any more attacks. He then beamed down to conference room outside of General Landry's office. Thor could see the General was on the red phone so he knew he was talking to the President of the United States. General Landry had noticed the telltale bright flash of the Asgard transport beam and waved for Thor to join him in his office. Thor did so but remained quiet as Landry continued talking to the President.

"Yes Mr. President, I understand this screws up your original plans to reveal the Stargate Program. But this is also a golden opportunity to do it in a more favorable light. Without the assistance from our Allies we would have been conquered and enslaved as a race. That is the platform we need to push. I have Thor here in my office as we speak. Yes Mr. President, I understand and will speak to him about that." He hung the phone back on the cradle and rubbed his face.

"Perhaps I should return at a later time General Landry." Thor stated simply. "Oh no, that's alright Thor. I just hate the timing of all of this and so does the President. He had a whole speech planned out about the benefits of the Stargate Program and all. Then Anubis shows up in orbit with an entire fleet of huge ships that even amateur star gazers could see. Not to mention he hacked into Earth's communication network and declared himself to be our God. Riots are breaking out all over the world even though no damage was done to Earth whatsoever. I tried to get the President to beam up to one of the LGPS or at least to the bunker here or on St. Lawrence Island. He refused and said he would hold the press conference in the Oval Office as originally planned."

Thor blinked as looked at General Landry. "The Asgard are here to assist you in any way you need General. All you need to do is ask. I will even appear on your television in person if you require it." Landry smiled. "Thank you Thor and that is part of what I need to talk to you about. The President is going on the air in thirty minutes. We'll just have to see how that goes." He then told Thor what the President had asked of him. Thor agreed and beamed to his ship.

**Thirty Minutes Later at the White House**

Henry Jefferson Hayes sat behind his desk in the Oval Office. He was about to give the biggest speech of his or any politicians life much less career. There was irrefutable proof that we were not alone in the universe now and there was no other way he could think of to try and restore order. He stood and walked to the special podium that was set up just for this occasion.

"My fellow Americans. Today we were shown irrefutable and undeniable evidence that we are not alone in this universe. Earth was brutally and savagely attacked from space by a race known as the Goa'uld. The harsh reality of this has thrown many of our steadfast beliefs into chaos. We cannot let this tear us apart from the inside. We must embrace this new reality and move forward with our heads held high for all of mankind. Mankind. That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We should be united in our common interest. We must show the universe that we will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We're going to live on. We're going to survive. And with the assistance of Allies that we have made over the last two years, we will live on and embrace our destiny." He paused to let the content of his message sink in.

"Over the past two years, the United States of America, along with some of our closest Allies on Earth has operated a device found at a dig in the desert near Giza in 1928. That device was built by a race of advanced humans known as the Alterans or to the Romans, the Builders of Roads. The device is called the Stargate. There are thousands of them scattered across this galaxy and others. I am not sure of the exact specifics on how it operates but I do know it allows instantaneous transport to other planets containing a similar device." He paused to gage the reaction of the press corp. They were absolutely engrossed so he continued.

"Through the stargate, teams from several countries have explored this galaxy and others. We have made some enemies but more importantly, we have made many new friends. One of those friends is a race called the Asgard." He looked toward the window behind his desk as he heard the rumble of heavy engines. Simultaneously the six Asgard ships entered the atmosphere and hovered over several major population centers to include Washington D.C. There was a flash of light as Thor (actually a hologram of what Thor will look like when he is downloaded into the new body Heimdall created) beamed next to the President. The secret service had already been warned so they took it in stride.

"This is Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet and one of our closest friends and Allies outside of Earth." The hologram of Thor wasn't clad in ancient Viking armor but wore an expensive looking business suit. "Greetings people of Midgard. As President Hayes has told you, I am Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet. My people have watched over your planet for many centuries before this Alliance came into existence. We will continue to watch over you now as Allies as we have seen the great potential that humans possess." With that Thor stepped to the side and allowed the President to continue.

"The Asgard are just one of the Allies we have gained in our trek through the stars. There are the Tollans, the Pangarans, the Tagreans, the Lanteans, and the Alterans just to name a few. Many of the recent technologies that have been released to the people of Earth have come from the Stargate Program and assistance from our Allies. This technology can end world hunger. It can cure most known diseases and probably some we don't even know about. It can also end world poverty as we know it. But make no mistake. This technology can also be something very, very terrible in the wrong hands."

"As President of the United States, I propose a meeting of the United Nations in three days to discuss how we as a world should proceed. There are so many more things I could talk about in this speech. I just want the world to realize that we don't have to fight amongst ourselves over petty differences. We are all a part of humanity and this is either going to make us stronger as a people or be the end of us as a people. But whatever happens, we are all in this together. God Bless America."

With that he turned and shook the holograms hand as the cameras stopped rolling. The real Thor appeared in the place of the hologram. "We shall see Mr. President. We shall see." He said before beaming back to his ship and moving back into high orbit of Earth.

**I had several complaints about using President Clinton as the President for this story. So I changed it to Henry Hayes but used Clinton's middle name as I can't remember the show or any book ever giving President Hayes' middle name. Ok, here's chapter six. As some of you know, I am a Soldier in the US Army and I am currently stationed in Kuwait. Sorry it took so long again but my time has been consumed by everything up North and when I wasn't working, my mind was distracted by the same events. I hope I didn't lose a lot of you with this chapter. Yes I have borrowed a few ideas from other stories but I asked permission first before using them. I did the best I could but to me it still doesn't feel right. Let me know if anyone has any new thoughts or helpful (and tasteful) suggestions.**

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	7. Chapter 7

**Pegasus Galaxy**

**Vanir Prison Planet**

It had been exactly one hour since the Asgard fleet had departed for the Milky Way towing the Alteran ships. The satellite Thor left in orbit around the planet detected a hyperspace window opening on the opposite side of the planet. The satellite had a limited, short range hyperdrive to move quickly around the system. It initiated a short jump to intercept the ship that opened the window.

It only detected a small atmospheric disturbance but no ship. It activated the advanced sensors to detect a cloaked ship but again found nothing. It did however detect something as a small magnetic mine attached itself to its outer hull. The satellite just barely had enough time to send a micro burst message before the mine detonated, frying most of the control circuits of the satellite. The small Artificial Intelligence in the satellite began a diagnostic to see which systems were still operational. The list was short but all the systems down were critical ones.

All communications were down as were weapons control and sensors. So basically the satellite was blind, defenseless, and couldn't call for help. A few minutes after the mine took out the satellites key systems, another hyperspace window opened and the ship that came out of it opened fire, destroying the defenseless satellite.

The micro burst transmission had reached Atlantis in mere seconds and Ayiana had gone into action. "Captain Kawalsky, I need you to take the _Valhalla_(Kawalsky had been promoted to Captain and given command of the _Ascension_class dreadnaught) and a small taskforce and immediately go to the planet Thor left the Vanir trapped on. We just received a micro burst transmission from the satellite then it went black. We haven't been able to raise it and I think we've got trouble there."

Kawalsky answered the hail. "I understand Director. I will take the _Valhalla,_ the _Enterprise,_ the _Armitage,_and five of the _Defiants_ for a destroyer screen if that is acceptable to you." He nodded towards his com officer who then relayed the orders to the appropriate ships. Ayiana smiled. "I am glad you decided to stay with us Captain. That selection of ships should serve you well and handle just about anything you run across. You have a go Captain, Ayiana out." With that the eight ship taskforce jumped into hyperspace.

Kawalsky had broken the taskforce down into four, two ship groups and each pair approached from different directions with shields up and weapons charged. He didn't want to risk another ambush like the one that almost destroyed the _Dauntless._ Nothing fired upon any ship as they exited hyperspace so Kawalsky ordered a full sensor sweep of the system and sent several assault teams to the planet's surface. An hour of searching only turned up one thing; the Vanir had escaped the planet. Captain Kawalsky sighed deeply as he sat down in his command chair. "Hail Atlantis please."

Seconds later Ayiana's face appeared on the main viewscreen. "What have you found Captain?" She asked. "Well Director, not much even after an hour long search. The Vanir are no longer on the planet but we don't know how they did it. We detected traces of hyperspace windows being opened but because of the residual radiation from whatever destroyed the satellite, we can't determine who opened them. We are also detecting residual energy from weapons fire but again the radiation is preventing us from knowing who fired on the satellite. We recovered the satellites data recorder and it shows the satellite detected a hyperspace window, moved to investigate, and didn't detect the mine until it attached itself to the satellite's hull. The A.I. was corrupted by an Electro Magnetic Pulse from the mine so it can't give us any more information." Ayiana thought for a bit.

"Ok Captain, leave a few cloaked probes in the system as watchdogs and return back to Atlantis. I'll talk with Heimdall and get a message to Thor as well. We'll let one of them go over the information in the data recorder and see if they can find something we didn't since they built the satellite and A.I." With that the screen switched off and the small taskforce dropped a few cloaked probes before jumping into hyperspace.

As soon as the taskforce arrived back at Atlantis, Captain Kawalsky beamed the data recorder down so it could be sent to Heimdall on Asuras. Ayiana had dialed the gate to explain to him what had happened. "I am also sending you a log of all the sensor readings taken by the taskforce to see if you can match it with any know race. We have to know who helped the Vanir escape or if they were able to do it on their own."

Heimdall nodded that he understood. "I understand all of that, Director. But you have to understand I am under direct orders from the Asgard High Council to make the transfer of Asgard minds into new bodies my priority. I will get to the data recorder as soon as I can. I am sure you have nothing to fear as I believe the Vanir will go into hiding and not emerge for many years if ever." Ayiana knew she shouldn't get mad at Heimdall. He was just following orders after all. She just had this nagging feeling that something bad was about to happen.

To this end, she ordered double patrols and sent ships to increase the number of defensive turrets around Lantea, Asuras, Taranis, and their other key systems. Ayiana was hoping she was just being paranoid but her gut feeling (as Sheppard would say) told her otherwise. Ayiana started going through the UEC database and the Alteran database on Atlantis looking for something that not even she realized. A couple of days later, Dr. Beckett had to order her to get some rest.

"Ayiana, I know something is bothering you but you've been awake for over fifty hours straight. Go get some rest Lassie, doctor's orders." Ayiana couldn't help but smile. Carson's Scottish accent always made her feel better. "Alright, I will. I've been poring over these databases for two days straight and I still don't know what I'm even looking for!" Carson smiled. "Get some rest. It will come to you when your mind is clear and not all fogged up from lack of sleep."

The next morning, after ten straight hours of sleep, what she was looking for did come to her. She called Dr. McKay, Dr. Zelenka, and Narim to tell them to meet her in her office. When they arrived she told them to take a seat. "Ok, you three know I've been stressing over something I couldn't understand for the last two days. Well last night Carson ordered me to get some sleep and I did. When I woke up this morning it hit me. We need to completely design new ships from the ground up using all three of the technology bases we have." Both Tau'ri scientists looked like kids at Christmas while Narim looked contemplative.

"So you want to design a ship using Asgard, Alteran, and Federation technology?" Radek asked. "That's exactly what I want to do. I promised General Hammond we would help them design a ship using all the technologies but I think we need an entire line of ships not just one. I have every possible design on this crystal. So grab what you'll need for a few days stay on Asuras. We're going to enlist Heimdall on this too."

Over the next week Ayiana, Narim, Rodney, and Radek (Heimdall stuck to his orders but did provide them with schematics for the new generation two neutrino-ion generators (with the permission of the High Council of course) worked on designing four types of ships. The first was basically a dreadnaught class, second was a battleship class, third was a heavy cruiser, and last was a tactical explorer class. They used the basic layout of the Federation ships on all but the dreadnaught but without the fixed warp nacelles.

The dreadnaught was a full 5,000 meters long, had eight massive spinal mount ion cannons, ten large three gun turrets (five mounted on the dorsal side and five ventral), and hundreds of smaller two barrel turrets all over the ship. Some of the two barrel turrets were rapid fire ion pulse cannons; some were beefed up Gatling pulse phasers, while others were rotary railguns. The three gun turrets were mounted battleship style three in front of the Bridge and two behind the Bridge. The five on the ventral side were mounted with three facing forward with two slightly offset from the first one to allow all three turrets to fire forward or two to either side. The two in the back were mounted side by side allowing both to fire to the rear or one to each side.

It would also have multi-directional phaser arrays on all sides of the ship to provide 360 degree firing arcs to supplement the already massive energy weapon layout of the dreadnaught. Ayiana wanted the phaser arrays added since they could be used with a stun setting that would be non-lethal for certain situations. Not that she anticipated using a dreadnaught for crowd control, she just wanted all of the bases covered.

The shielding was as strong as the shield for Atlantis but used a modulating frequency rotation like the Federation shields. It also was multi-layered and conformed to the shape of the hull like the _Aurora _instead of a bubble like the normal Federation and Asgard shields. The shielding was designed into primary multi-layered shielding and secondary multi-layered shielding. If a drone type or phase shifting weapon of any kind was used against the ship, the shields primary layer was able to scan the phase frequency and relay it to the secondary shields to allow them to match the frequency and stop the phased weapon from penetrating.

The dreadnaught also had Alteran drones but Ayiana liked the Federation torpedoes so she added two forward launch tubes and one aft as well as two rapid fire torpedo turrets, one on the dorsal side and one on the ventral. Each ship design used the Asgard hyperdrive, Federation impulse engines, and retractable warp nacelles as a back-up to the hyperdrive and because the radiation in hyperspace made it impossible to fly a cloaked ship through hyperspace. There wasn't a ship created that could match the firepower of this monster. At least not that Ayiana had ever seen or heard of.

The battleship and the tactical exploration cruiser would be based off of the _Sovereign_class but twice as long. The only difference between the two would be the weapons load out for the battleship would be much larger and the tactical exploration cruiser (T.E.C.) would have more comfortable lodgings and more science labs.

The battleship would have four spinal mount ion cannons, two on the dorsal and two on the ventral side of the saucer section and carry a larger contingent of fighters and bombers as well as a larger Marine contingent. There were also two spinal mount plasma cannons on the dorsal side of the saucer. The battleship would have four Gen 2 neutrino-ion generators (powered by Naquadria instead of neutrinos) and the T.E.C. would have three.

The battleship would need the extra generator to power the extra weapons the T.E.C. didn't have. Shielding on the T.E.C. and the battleship would be the same as the dreadnaught. All of the new ships built were using the same armor composite of trinium, naquadah, and carbon that the Asgard used in their newest ships.

The heavy cruiser would be just over 900 meters long but it would me a multi-vector attack cruiser similar to the Federations _Prometheus_ but have three upgraded Gen 2 neutrino-ion generators and the same upgraded weapons as the battleship minus two spinal mount ion cannons.

The heavy cruiser would only have the two ion and two plasma cannon on the dorsal side of the saucer section. The heavy cruiser also had more maneuvering thrusters and the more powerful impulse engines of the dreadnaught. These oversized engines, heavy weapons load out, and more thrusters would allow the heavy cruiser to have nearly the firepower of the battleship but the speed and maneuverability of a much smaller ship. The inertial dampeners had also been massively reinforced and upgraded to help compensate as well.

All of the ships from the _Saber_class up were being fitted with a receptacle for a ZPM. The larger ships like the heavy cruisers and up would be fitted with a ZPM room similar to the one on Atlantis that used three ZPM's. The ZPM's on all ships would mainly be for back-up power or to exponentially boost power generation in the case of an emergency. The ZPM factories in all three galaxies were churning out ZPM's faster than the charging station in the Lantea system could charge them. So Ayiana authorized the building of several more stations in not only the Pegasus galaxy but the Milky Way and Ida galaxies too.

A lot had changed in the last couple of weeks since the replicators in three galaxies had been defeated. The Tau'ri had come a long way since the intervention of the Federation that came here in order to save their own reality. So the Asgard High Council, the Nox, and the Alteran/Lanteans, (though they still considered the human race young) had agreed to accept them as the fifth race in a new Alliance.

The formal papers had not been drawn up but the free trade of technology was in full swing. The saving grace for the humans had been the intervention of the Federation and the breakthrough Zelenka had helped Heimdall with on the Asgard cloning problems. Had it not been for those two events, Asgard weapons, power generators, and such would not have been traded for generations if not centuries.

Everything seemed to be going their way for a change. It had been two weeks now since the Vanir had disappeared and all seemed quite. Thor had returned to the Ida galaxy with part of the Asgard fleet while the rest stayed to help build more shipyards and the ZPM charging platforms. Several joint bases in the Milky Way and Ida were being built as well. Once those were complete, there would be more built in the Pegasus galaxy. Heimdall had taken his research and materials back to the Asgard homeworld and was transferring consciousnesses into the new bodies as fast as he could. Millions of stored consciousnesses had been brought out of storage for the first time in thousands of years.

While the Asgard were busy becoming a viable race again, they had only been able to free up a few ships to attempt to hunt down their wayward brethren. So far, not a trace had been found of who had helped them if anyone at all. Whomever it was, they had the knowledge necessary to scramble the sensor readings bad enough that even an Asgard computer core couldn't make heads nor tails of them. Ayiana was hoping they had left this area of space for another galaxy far, far away.

Ayiana and her team had returned to Atlantis and she was sitting in the messhall having a quick lunch when the sensors detected an incoming wraith scout approaching in hyperspace. They technically didn't detect the scout, they had detected the "eddies" it made while traveling through hyperspace. As the alarms sounded, Ayiana tapped her combadge. "Emergency sight to sight beam out, one directly to the control room." She said to the computer and she disappeared in a swirl of transporter energy.

Ayiana appeared a few microseconds later in the control room. "Report, tell me what we have." She ordered. The technician answered quickly. "One Wraith scout ship on a direct course for Lantea Ma'am. Turrets are already charged and tracking the subspace eddies the ship is giving off. It will drop out of hyperspace in one minute. All defense ships signal ready to engage on your order." Ayiana shook her head. "No, let the turrets deal with it. Something doesn't feel right. Order half of the defense fleet to cloak and standby and raise our shields." The technician relayed that order and half of the thirty ships in the system shimmered into nothingness as the powerful city shield rose over the city.

The scout ship dropped out of hyperspace at the exact spot the computer said it would and was a fireball less than a nanosecond after it transitioned to normal space. It was still not fast enough to stop the databurst the scout ship sent the instant the first pulse phaser contacted its hull. "Sensors picked up a databurst just before it exploded. No words just a signal of some kind." The technician reported as he looked up at Ayiana. "Strange, have the defense fleet remain cloaked and alternate cloaking and uncloaking of random ships throughout the system. I want to keep them guessing if they are watching us. Do the same with the defense turrets as well."

A different type of alarm began sounding then. The technician looked up in horror. "Director! It's Asuras! Three Wraith hive ships have just dropped out of hyperspace and opened fire on the defense turrets. Asuras reports they are larger and more powerful than any hive they have seen!" Ayiana didn't hesitate. "Hail the _Valhalla_ now!" Before turning to the screen. "Captain Kawalsky, the Wraith have attacked Asuras with three hive ships that are larger and more powerful than any seen before. Take the defense fleet and assist them in any way you can. Asuras houses the majority of our ship building capacity in the Pegasus galaxy and our latest research. It must be protected at all costs."

Kawalsky didn't waste time asking questions, he accepted his orders and followed them to the letter. Less than a minute after she had issued those orders, Ayiana watched the monitors as half of her in system defense fleet jumped to hyperspace. "Dial Avalon, we need to inform General Hammond of the attack." In no time the General answered and Ayiana told him what had happened. "I understand Director, I will send every available ship to you and contact our Allies to get as many ships as I can from them, Hammond out." Within minutes of this promise, ten Asgard ships, twenty UEC ships, and thirty Ha'taks (towed by the UEC and Asgard ships) jumped into hyperspace in route to the Pegasus galaxy. The Asgard had installed Gen 2 generators and Asgard hyperdrives into the few UEC ships left in the Milky Way during the two weeks after the destruction of Anubis and the Goa'uld System Lords.

**Asuras System**

**ten minutes after the initial attack**

Narim was yelling orders to the ships in the defense fleet around Asuras. "Keep moving but try to concentrate on one hive at a time! Ignore the cruisers they seem to be just there as a distraction! Use your superior maneuverability to limit their weapons effectiveness!" Then he turned to the staff in the control room. "Use the maneuvering thrusters on the turrets try to make them harder to hit. Volley fire the torpedoes simultaneously with the pulse phasers! Try to concentrate on the same hive the defense fleet is working on! Reinforcements are in route but we have to hold the hives off as long as we can!"

Half of his twenty ship defense fleet were either destroyed or drifting dead in space. The other half was taking a beating from two of the hives as the third approached the planet and opened fire. Blast after blast hit the cities shields, knocking Narim to the floor. "Lock ground cannons on that hive and open fire! Helia, fire the drones on my mark."

The ion cannons on the surface locked onto the Wraith hive in orbit and opened fire. Several large explosions spread across the hull armor of the hive but it still continued to fire on the city. "Now Helia! Fire the drones!" Narim ordered. Thousands of drones shot from several areas around the city and slammed into the hive in orbit. These were the new drones with the Tollan phase shift technology built in. It still took several hundred drones and many more shots from the ion cannons before the hive in orbit exploded. Helia commanded the rest of the drones she had fired to divide in half and go after the last two hives in the system. The two hives had just finished off the last of the defense fleet and were turning toward the planet as the drones struck.

At the same time as the drones hit each hive, the fifteen ships sent from Lantea, lead by the _Valhalla_ dropped out of hyperspace weapons blazing. Kawalsky stood from his chair in utter amazement. "My God! They've destroyed the entire defense fleet! Tactical, fire at will with everything we've got. Hammer those bastards until their life sucking corpses are space dust." Even with the righteous vengeance Kawalsky and his task force felt and the help of more drones fired from Asuras, the two remaining hives managed to take out half of the fifteen ships sent to assist before being destroyed themselves. The city ship itself was undamaged, but the buildings and structures all around it to include several of the ship yards, were heavily damaged.

Kawalsky sat on the smoke filled bridge of his ship while tears rolled down his cheeks unchecked. He turned to his coms officer only to find her lying dead on the floor. He got up and slowly made his way to her console but found it was a charred mess. He turned to an auxiliary communications console and hailed Asuras. "This is Captain Kawalsky. Narim, can you read me?" The main viewscreen was nothing but an open hole to space covered by an emergency forcefield.

Through heavy static he heard the reply. "Captain Kawalsky, we read you but you're barely coming through. Can you clean up the transmission and try again?" Charlie looked around his devastated bridge. "Negative, bridge destroyed, half my crew is dead and half my fleet is destroyed. We're losing life support and need immediate assistance." Through the crackle of static he heard another ship's captain respond as he realized he was on an open channel. Within seconds transporter beams swirled into human beings coming to assist. Once the first group of engineers and medical personnel solidified, Kawalsky smiled in their direction then fell to the floor, flat on his face.

**Atlantis**

**Lantea System**

Ayiana was furious and on the line with General Hammond, Thor, and the newly promoted Brigadier General Jack O'Neill. Jack was supposed to have been promoted several months ago and taken command of the SGC on Earth but he turned it down in favor of working in the field out of Avalon. He hadn't dodged the bullet this time. He was now taking over Avalon from General Hammond who was retiring. Jack was mad as a wet hen right along with Ayiana. "How the hell did those three hives take out half of the planet, all of the defense turrets, and thirty-five ships?!" Jack screamed. "We've kicked their asses soundly in every engagement but this one! What changed?!"

"I don't know General but believe me; I will get to the bottom of it." Thor spoke up then and Jack made a funny face when he heard his buddy's voice. "I am in route with a fleet of Asgard warships. We will examine the wreckage as well in an attempt to ascertain how this was able to occur." Jack couldn't stand it anymore.

"You know Thor, I don't know if I'll ever get used to the new you. I like the old you but I guess the bright side is that you'll be around longer this way." Thor cracked a smile even though the situation was far from comical. "It will take time for me to get used to this as well O'Neill. But let us concentrate on the events at hand. We will arrive within the hour Director Ayiana." With that Thor closed the channel on his end to allow the Tau'ri to continue.

"We've also received word that the ships we dispatched when you first called us will reach you in three days. If it weren't for towing the thirty Ha'tak from the Free Jaffa Nation, they would have been there an hour ago. We figured the thirty extra ships were worth the extra time it took for them to reach you. All of them have been upgraded to the level Anubis had or higher. As you know Goa'uld technology is based on captured Alteran technology so it was easy for Doctor Lee, Colonel Carter, and Jacob Carter to upgrade some of the Ha'taks with Alteran pulse cannons and shields." Daniel explained as he came into the room.

Ayiana couldn't help but smile as she saw Daniel. "Tell Doctor Lee, Sam, and Jacob I am grateful for any assistance they have provided. I will get the Lantean scientists busy upgrading the rest if we have time. I'm still puzzled as to how the Wraith were able to upgrade their ships to be so powerful. It did seem to be only the three hives. The cruisers posed no problem to take out. I think they were sent as more of a distraction than anything." Just then Rodney came running into the room with Zelenka hot on his heels.

"I think we found something and you're not going to like it." Rodney McKay said as he entered General O'Neill's view on the monitor. "Well spit it out McKay. We haven't got all day!" Jack said angrily. Rodney looked back and forth between O'Neill and Ayiana like a kid that had just been yelled at by his Father. "Well, no need to get crappy about it, ok, ok." He said when he saw the look on Ayiana's face. "We detected a residual energy signature from parts of the wreckage. It matches the sensor readings the _Python_ took during their engagement with the Vanir. I can't be sure but I think we found who helped the Vanir."

Jack went into a fit of cursing and kicking chairs. "That does it! I want those little grey bastards found and dealt with immediately!" Ayiana crossed her arms and glared at Jack. "We have priorities we need to deal with first General. We have dead to recover and there may still be survivors trapped on some of the ships out there. The Asgard fleet will be here within the hour and I'll let Thor decide how he wants to play it as the Vanir are renegades of his people. When O'Neill heard Thor's name he realized she was right and calmed down a bit. "You're right Director. I'm sorry I lost my temper. It just seems like everytime we get a break, someone jumps up and slaps us across the face to bring us back down again."

Thor and his fleet of thirty upgraded _O'Neill II_class warships, ten _Daniel Jackson II_ class science vessels, and five of the newly built _Samantha Carter_class drone carriers arrived within the hour as promised. True to his word, Thor ordered the careful examination of the debris. The Asgard scientists came to the same disturbing conclusion that Doctors McKay and Zelenka did. The Wraith hive ships were powered by an older version of the neutrino-ion reactors that the Asgard used over 10,000 years ago. With the upgraded power generation, the Wraith could now pose a serious threat to all life in the local galactic cluster and beyond.

Half of the science ships were assigned to rebuilding the defense turrets, with greater quantities of LGPS, in the Asuras system and the other half was assigned to help rebuild the destroyed sections of the city around Asuras. Priority was given to the shipyards so they could begin work on the new designs Ayiana and her team had come up with. It seemed they would be needed much sooner than originally anticipated.

One of the Lantean scientists approached Ayiana as she watched over the reconstruction efforts. "Director, I might have something that could be an asset to our war effort. In the last stages of our war with the Wraith, several Lantean scientists were sent to our outpost on Doranda III. Their purpose was to develop a new source of energy that would make ZPM's obsolete. It was supposed to be used to power the weapons of the Dorandans without the use of ZPM's. We never found out if they succeeded or failed."

Ayiana called all of her best scientists to her office as well as Thor and Heimdall. Once she explained what the Lantean scientist had told her, Thor beamed Ayiana and the required personnel to his ship and departed for Doranda with a small taskforce of five ships.

Ayiana and her team found Doranda destroyed except for one building which had been the Lantean outpost. There was evidence the outpost had destroyed an entire Wraith attack fleet and the entire planet. After cleaning the corpses of the Lantean scientists from the outpost, Ayiana and the Lantean scientists with her made a complete copy of the outpost database. While reading through the database Ayiana was describing "Project Arcturus" to the human and Asgard scientists with her.

"Wow, they were trying to extract vacuum energy from our own space and time instead of from an artificially created sub-space environment like the ZPM's!" McKay and Zelenka looked at each other wide eyed before McKay spoke up. "You're kidding? That would definitely make the ZPM obsolete! Wow, that would almost make a ZPM look like an alkaline battery in comparison! That's almost unlimited energy! We have to make this work!"

Ayiana smiled at his enthusiasm but frowned as she read on. "It seems the process created unstable exotic particles that escaped as hard radiation. That must be what killed the scientists here. From what I gather, they built a failsafe into the system in the event of a catastrophic failure. It used the weapon on top of the outpost as a pressure relief to bleed off an overload of excess energy." As she read more she noticed inconsistencies in some of the formulas.

"Rodney, take a look at these formulas and tell me what you see, you too Radek. When they're done, Thor could you and Heimdall look them over as well?" She waited while the four went over the formulas. Heimdall and Radek were the first to spot the problems she had seen. "There are several inconsistent algorithms in these formulas. If the scientists activated the device using these formulas, it would have lead to a catastrophic overload." Heimdall stated.

So over the next week, Ayiana and her team ran test after test and hundreds of simulations. Rodney had argued they should try their findings on the actual device but Ayiana and Thor overrode him for safety reasons. "Rodney, I will not risk another catastrophic failure. I will not allow actual tests on the reactor until we are sure we have solved the problem. If you can't deal with that then go back to Atlantis and I'll have Radek take over your job." Ayiana knew that would hurt Rodney's feelings but this was too important to rush no matter how desperate the need was.

There had been no sign of the Wraith over the same week but everyone knew that would not last. They were probably upgrading more ships and would return with a vengeance soon. The problem was Thor and the Asgard had searched the entire galaxy and found no trace of the Wraith or the Vanir. Defenses were tripled around Taranis, Lantea, and Asuras.

The pulse phaser turrets numbered the same as before but the number of torpedo turrets and LGPS had been increased three fold. The torpedoes had been upgraded with the Tollan phase technology to allow the torpedoes to phase shift past shields or deep into the heart of a vessel before exploding. A unique isotope had been added to each torpedo so if the Wraith attacked again, they could be tracked if a vessel were to flee before being completely destroyed.

A week later and the team was no closer to solving the exotic particle problem then they were when they started. Everyone was getting frustrated and Rodney was becoming more insistent that a live test be performed. "Look, we can keep the output below thirty percent and adjust the containment field manually." Rodney pleaded. "I can do this, I am positive!" Ayiana still wouldn't budge on the test. "No Rodney. For the last time no! If you bring it up again, I will relieve you of duty and send you back to Earth!" The room grew extremely quiet and Ayiana realized she had crossed a line she hadn't meant to cross.

"I'm sorry Rodney, I shouldn't have yelled at you or threatened you that way. I just know in my heart that a live test right now would be disastrous and may cost us more than we are willing to give." Rodney was still hurt and stayed silent for a long time. Then his whole demeanor changed as if someone flipped a switch.

"Wait, I have it! We use a shunt to bleed off the exotic particles into an empty ZPM. We then use that contaminated ZPM as replicator stock for the large matter replicators in the ship yards. The exotic particles are contained and can't cause the catastrophic failure as before!" Ayiana's face lit up as she knew he was onto something.

"You're right Rodney, I think that will work. We just have to design an algorithm to detect and siphon off the particles to an empty ZPM!" It took another two days of programming but finally between Ayiana, the Lantean scientists, the Asgard, and the Tau'ri, Ayiana was satisfied enough to try a full live test.

"Power levels holding steady at twenty-five percent." Rodney reported. "Good, increase to forty percent and hold. We'll see if anything changes." Ayiana ordered. Ten minutes later. "Power levels are staying consistent at forty percent, all exotic particles being detected and siphoned to ZPM." Rodney said with a huge smile. Ayiana smiled back. "Take it to sixty percent and hold again please."

This went on for nearly an hour before problems occurred. "ZPM containment is destabilizing, attempting to compensate." Rodney reported. "Ok, power is leveling off at eighty percent, ZPM approaching critical mass. We need to fine tune the algorithm and get a larger containment vessel for the exotic particles. I'm going to start powering down the system now to avoid an overload." With that Rodney began the shutdown process and beamed the ZPM up to a waiting jumper that took it on to Asuras for further study.

Ayiana was proud of her team and said so. "Excellent work everyone, especially you Rodney. I'm sorry again for snapping at you earlier." Rodney just smiled and held his hand out. "Think nothing of it Director. It helped light the fires in my head so I could come up with the solution." He turned to the Lanteans in the room. "I'm just sorry the scientists here died before coming up with the idea on their own. But back then the solution wouldn't have worked as you didn't have access to the Federations matter replicators." He said softly. Ayiana then addressed Thor.

"Thor, I think it would be prudent if we transported this entire lab back to Asuras instead of trying to fortify this system as well. I mean this lab is the only thing left intact on the entire planet anyway. Don't you agree?" She asked in closing. Thor nodded his head. "I do agree Director. The drone deck on one of the drone carriers should provide more than sufficient space to house the lab and reactor." Ayiana nodded in return. "Good, please see to the details Thor. Everyone else wrap up what you're doing and prepare for transport. We will work out the final details back on Asuras."

Thirty minutes later several hyperspace windows opened in the Dorandan system and spewed forth five Wraith hive ships and dozens of cruisers. They found nothing but a destroyed Wraith fleet in orbit and a dead planet. They had missed the UEC taskforce by five minutes.

**Asuras Prime**

Ayiana and Thor picked up the contaminated ZPM and took it directly to the large matter replicator on one of the undamaged shipyards. It just happened to be the one working on one of the newly designed dreadnaughts. As a safety precaution, Ayiana erected a powerful ZPM powered multi-layered shield around the complex and evacuated all of the workers there just in case. "Ok, Thor, here goes nothing as the humans say." Thor frowned and shook his head. "The Tau'ri come up with some of the oddest expressions."

Ayiana place the ZPM in the recycle bin and pressed the activate button. The case closed and a micro forcefield activated around the recycler as the sensors detected the contamination. Micro transporter beams began the process of dissecting the ZPM and breaking it entirely into base molecules. Within ten minutes the ZPM and every exotic particle was completely absorbed. Ayiana ran a level 1 diagnostic on the entire replicator. "Huh, that's interesting. An unforeseen side effect of breaking down the contaminated ZPM could give us a significant advantage over the Wraith."

Thor stepped forward with a look of confusion on his face. "Please explain Director?" Ayiana ran a couple more tests to confirm her theory. "The hard radiation from the exotic particles is neutralized but changed as well. It seems that it will be fused into the metal of the new ship in a way that will help block plasma radiation. If the Wraith manage to bring down the shields, this added resistance will greatly increase the survivability of our ships."

Both Ayiana and Thor headed straight to the lab where McKay, Zelenka, Narim, and Latis Gin (a Lantean scientist) were conducting more tests with the Arcturus Reactor. Ayiana stopped and looked at a strange contraption occupying the middle of the lab. She could tell it was one of the constructors from the ZPM factory but she could see it had been altered as well.

"Rodney? What are you doing?" Rodney smiled and indicated both Zelenka and Narim. "Well Director, Radek and Narim had a brainstorm. Instead of installing an Arcturus Reactor on every ship, they discovered we could use the Reactor to charge a modified ZPM to full capacity in less than an hour." He walked to what she recognized as a ZPM carrying case. When he opened it Ayiana almost fainted. Instead of the normal orange(ish) color of a ZPM, a pulsing blue ZPM lay in the case.

"You were right by the way, this new ZPM, I prefer AZPM for Arcturus Zero Point Module, reads on a power scale of nearly one hundred times that of a standard ZPM. Since we have already set up the interface to use ZPM's on our ships, it will be a simple process to plug these in. I would suggest seriously reinforcing the power transfer conduits first though. We calculate we can charge three AZPM's before we need to switch out the ZPM used to collect the exotic particles. With these powering our ships, cities, and defenses, no one, not even the advanced Wraith ships can touch us." Rodney smiled proudly.

Both Ayiana and Thor were impressed by the initiative shown by the science team. Ayiana went to one of the control consoles for the shipyard and altered the programming slightly to reinforce the power conduits to the new requirements. She looked at Thor and shrugged. "We might as well reinforce them from the start instead of building the ship then trying to pull conduits to reinforce afterward." Thor smiled. "That is a logical and wise decision." Ayiana had to agree with O'Neill. Seeing Thor actually smile and hearing his new voice plus the fact that he now stood nearly seven feet tall and looked like a modern version of Eric the Red; would take some getting used to. But it was already starting to grow on her.

Production on the new AZPM's began immediately. Ayiana also sent the blueprints on how to build an Arcturus Reactor to the Asgard homeworld and the UEC. In less than a month, AZPM's would be produced in both the Ida galaxy and the Milky Way. Things were looking up for the UEC and her Allies again. Ayiana knew it wouldn't last. As the old saying went, "All good things must come to an end." She just wondered how and when that would be.

Thor had a ZPM interface installed on all of the Asgard ships. Each ship got an AZPM as soon as one could be charged. Once Thor had five ships powered by an AZPM, he sent that group on a seek and destroy mission. He was trying to find the location the Wraith and Vanir were hiding so he could destroy them in one fell swoop. He was waiting on the fourth group of five to finish when the Wraith arrived in force at Atlantis with twelve "Super Hives" as Rodney was calling the upgraded hives and a plethora of cruisers and support vessels. Ayiana and most of the ships had returned to Atlantis so when the Wraith arrived, they were met by a majority of the Pegasus Taskforce.

The sensors had picked up the hives approach several light years from Lantea. Ayiana began barking orders as the ships were detected. "Power all satellites and defense turrets, alert all ships in the system not to bother cloaking but to form up in defense pattern alpha three. I want the ships equipped with AZPM's to form the spearhead. Those ships are to engage the hives as far away from the planet as possible but stay within range of our drones. Send a message to Asuras, Taranis, and Avalon to inform them of the situation. This is it boys and girls, it's time to see how our upgrades perform."

As the Wraith fleet dropped from hyperspace, phase capable quantum and photon torpedoes and coherent plasma beams from the LGPS began slamming into them. The upgraded hulls of the hives resisted the torpedoes to a slight degree. But soon enough, more torpedoes joined the first ones to hit and hives began to explode. But the defenders weren't getting away unscathed. The hives toward the rear of the formation opened up with their upgraded energy weapons. Any stray shot that slipped through the screen of the AZPM powered ships that managed to strike a non-AZPM ship, destroyed said ship easily. Not many stray shots slipped through, but enough did that Ayiana was beginning to worry.

Ayiana decided it was time to pull out all the stops. "Signal Teal'c and tell him it's time, then wait three minutes and signal Thor as well." With that order, the thirty Ha'tak from the Free Jaffa Nation dropped out of hyperspace behind the Wraith fleet and began tearing into the cruisers and support vessels. It was total chaos in the Wraith ranks.

The recently upgraded Ha'taks were making short work of any Wraith cruiser they encountered. The support fleet began to scatter in all directions trying to escape the slaughter. One or two passed close enough to be targeted by torpedo turrets. One cruiser took a glancing blow as it opened a hyperspace window and escaped. By the time the three minutes Ayiana told the technician to wait had passed, all of the cruisers and support vessels had been destroyed or had escaped. When the technician sent the signal to Thor, Teal'c and his fleet were closing in on the rear of the remaining hive ships.

As the Asgard warships tore out of hyperspace, they combined their fire with the FJN Ha'taks and the remaining defense turrets. In a relatively short time the remaining hives were destroyed. Teal'c had lost eight of his Ha'tak, the UEC lost fourteen more ships (all were the non-AZPM upgrades), and none of the Asgard ships were destroyed. Ayiana stood in the control room of Atlantis and breathed a sigh of relief before having Thor hailed. "Thor, one of the cruisers that escaped took a glancing blow from a torpedo turret. The isotope activated and we are tracking the cruiser through hyperspace. I am sending you the details now. Take every available ship with you and track that cruiser to where ever it stops. Maybe we can put an end to this before any more Alliance lives are lost."

Five minutes later, Thor and his taskforce opened hyperspace windows and sped off in pursuit of the wounded cruiser. Five of the _Daniel Jackson II's_ stayed and began replacing the turrets that were lost in the last attack just in case the Wraith had used a ruse to draw away the fleet. Damaged ships that weren't capable of joining the assault fleet were maneuvered into the newly completed mobile space dock to begin repairs. Ayiana wanted to be prepared for any surprise the Wraith might throw at them.

The pursuit fleet lead by Thor, stalked the Wraith cruiser like a cat after a mouse. The cruiser stopped once at a world with a small human settlement on it. It tore Thor and the others apart to know the population was being culled but he also knew that there were bigger things at stake other than one tiny settlement. The settlement had less than three hundred people in it and they could easily be saved. But in doing so, Thor risked the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. He had to wait and track the cruiser back to the Wraith stronghold.

After about four hours, the cruiser jumped back into hyperspace. Thor ordered the fleet to continue to track the fleeing cruiser but not to resume pursuit just yet. He ordered one of the _Daniel Jacksons_to stay behind and try to assist the remaining inhabitants left after the culling. For the last four hours, the pursuit fleet had hung motionless in a nebula just outside of the cruisers scanning range. Thor gave the cruiser another ten minutes before ordering the fleet to move out and take up the hunt again.

Three more hours Thor and his fleet tracked the cruiser, staying well within their sensor range but well out of range of the cruisers sensors. When the cruiser continued traveling in hyperspace even after it had left the Pegasus galaxy, Thor began to worry a bit. He kept the fleet moving and tweaked his sensors to get a little more range out of them. At the far edge of his sensor range, he began to detect a large mass. As the cruiser came closer to the mass, it dropped out of hyperspace and approached on sublight engines.

Thor's sensors began to pick up more precise images and he stared at his readings in utter shock. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Asgard had used massive moon sized ships to travel long distances through the stars. They were basically an artificial moon that held atmosphere and traveled using massive (and primitive) nuclear powered engines. Entire generations would be born, live, and die in the construct as it moved through space at slower than light speed.

All the spheres had been thought lost or dismantled, apparently all but one. He ordered the fleet to drop out of hyperspace and called a meeting aboard the _O'Neill II._ Once he had the wing commanders on board, he began to go over his plan. They would send one of the newly built _Defiant III's_ with the AZPM upgrade to scout out the area under cloak. Thor theorized that with the AZPM upgrade, the stealth field would be exponentially harder to detect. Also if it was detected, the extra power would allow it to survive long enough for the rest of the fleet to jump in and engage.

After a lengthy discussion on possible avenues of approach, the UEC _Broadsword_ cloaked and jumped to warp. The captain kept it a warp as long as he dared before dropping out and approaching at impulse to reduce the subspace "waves" traveling at warp created. For just over an hour, the _Broadsword_ crept slowly around the massive artificial structure. "Keep us moving on thrusters only and maintain passive scans. I don't want to risk moving faster or allowing them to detect the active scans." He ordered his helm and tactical officer. "Are we getting anything from the inside on passive alone?" He asked. His tactical officer looked up.

"Negative captain, all I read is two entrances covered by heavy shielding and multiple weapons emplacements and a large energy signature coming from inside the construct. I am not reading number or types of ships that may be docked inside. I am however detecting multiple Wraith cruisers patrolling the immediate area along with at least ten upgraded "Super Hives". Captain Worthington didn't like the sound of that at all. "Keep scanning and we'll see if we get lucky and they open the door for a bit."

With that the _Broadsword_ continued to drift and run passive scans. Another hour went by and the "door" (actually it was a massive set of doors) slowly slid open to reveal the contents of the "moon" and eject the cruiser they had been tracking. Once the cruiser drifted a safe distance from the construct, several hives and multiple cruisers opened fire on it turning it into an expanding cloud of dying flame. "Oh crap, looks like the jig is up. Turn us back toward the fleet but keep us on thrusters only until we reach 500,000 kilometers then go to one quarter impulse."

As the _Broadsword_ was slowly starting to put some distance between her and the construct, the "door" opened again and several cruisers and hives exited the "moon". Within minutes there were two dozen more hives and several hundred cruisers swarming the area. Captain Worthington looked at his mini display on the arm of his command chair.

"Helm, take us to warp now, Tactical, drop the cloak and raise shields. Coms hail the fleet and tell Thor we tripped the burglar alarm and the enemy is hot on our tail." While the crew obeyed their Captain's orders, Captain Worthington continued to watch the display. He could see the cruisers and hives were gaining on him very fast. "Helm, drop us out of warp and take us into hyperspace. Hold on folks, this ride is about to get bumpy."

The ship rocked as it made the transition from warp to hyperspace as Wraith weapons fire exploded all around it. The AZPM enhanced shields held but wouldn't for long. Just then the stars filled with Asgard, Jaffa, and UEC ships blazing away at the pursuing Wraith. Thor watched the battle unfold on his screen for a few minutes before noticing something troubling. The "moon" was moving away from the battle and gaining speed. Thor made a split second decision. "Captain Kawalsky, the Vanir are trying to escape in the construct. Please bring the _Valhalla_ and follow me. We will try to stop them before they escape." The _Valhalla_had only recently finished repairs and Ayiana had tried to insist that Captain Kawalsky stay in the medbay but he wanted payback and would have none of sitting this battle out.

"We're right behind you Thor. Let's get some payback." Thor shook his head at the human need for revenge but oddly he felt the same need as the Vanir had not only betrayed the Asgard, not once but many times, but they had betrayed and hurt people he truly cared about. This was one instance that Thor knew exactly what Captain Kawalsky was feeling. With that the two mighty warships jumped into hyperspace and shot off in pursuit of the construct.

It didn't take very long for the two ships to overtake the slow (comparatively speaking) construct. But the construct was far from defenseless. As soon as the two ships began their approach, multiple pulse beams shot from the many cannon on the outer surface of the "moon". Both the _O'Neill II_ and the _Valhalla_ were using the upgraded AZPM so though each took multiple hits, all that happened was a rattling of the crew's teeth and of course pissing Kawalsky off. "Captain Kawalsky, swing around behind the construct and see if you can disable the engines. Be careful as these constructs were once powered by a nuclear fission reactor and a misplaced shot could destroy the entire sphere." Kawalsky started to protest until Thor clarified. "Let me make it clear. Not only will the construct be destroyed, the ensuing blast will overwhelm even our enhanced shields and destroy us as well."

Kawalsky blinked and ordered his helm to comply and circle the construct before looking back at his tactical officer. "Easy on those weapons Tom, I want to survive this if at all possible. Lieutenant Commander Tom Paris smiled nervously at his captain. "That makes two of us Captain. Remember, I have a wedding to be a part of in the not so distant future."

As Thor opened fire on the front of the construct (if you can consider any place of a sphere to be the front) the _Valhalla_ executed a micro jump passed the construct and fired the portside thrusters and impulse engines full throttle and the starboard side thrusters and engines at full reverse thrust causing the ship to skew sideways like a drifter.

As the bow of the ship came around to target the engines, the helm officer reversed the direction of the thrusters and slowed the spin until the spinal mounted cannons aligned with the construct. Lt. Commander Paris smiled as the helm officer completed the maneuver Tom himself had invented before firing two full power bursts from the forward arrays and one low yield quantum torpedo. The bursts from the forward array slammed into a powerful shield that was already weakened by the fire from Thor's ship. The shield was overwhelmed and collapsed just as the torpedo reached it. As the torpedo didn't have to deal with piercing the shields, it slammed into the engines at full speed. It still only destroyed the engine exhaust nozzles and didn't force an overload that would have destroyed the construct and both ships attacking it.

Thor moved the _O'Neill II_around to the side that the _Valhalla_was on. "Captain Kawalsky, please assist me by locking your tractor beam onto the construct so we can stop its forward progress." Lt. Commander Paris didn't wait for the Captain's order and complied with Thor's request. Soon the two ships working together had slowed the construct to a complete stop.

With the shields disabled, Thor beamed all of the remaining Vanir out of the construct and into the brig on his ship. He then overrode the failsafe mechanisms on his transporter and beamed two Naquadria enhanced quantum torpedoes inside the construct before hailing the _Valhalla._

"Captain Kawalsky, I would suggest we move off to at least one million kilometers. I have apprehended all of the Vanir from inside the construct and transported two Naquadria enhanced quantum torpedoes inside. The blast will be quite extensive I am sure." With that the two ships jumped into hyperspace. Neither ship had dropped from hyperspace when the torpedoes exploded vaporizing everything unshielded in a 10,000 kilometer radius.

Kawalsky felt the shock wave even in hyperspace but no systems were affected by the blast. A few minutes later both ships dropped from hyperspace and Thor scanned the area where the construct had been. "The shielded probe I dropped survived the blast and recorded that the construct was in fact completely destroyed. We should have no more major problems from the Wraith. I will depart for Othala as soon as we make sure all of the Wraith are destroyed." With that both ships jumped back into hyperspace and rejoined the battle with the Wraith fleet.

The battle was raging as the two ships dropped to normal space. With the addition of the most powerful ship the UEC had finished building and another _O'Neill II_; the battle began to swing in the favor of the Alliance. The cruisers hadn't been upgraded so they were not considered a threat compared to the upgraded hives. All but five of the hives were destroyed and several dozen cruisers as well. The Wraith began to try to break contact and flee the battle but the Alliance was having none of that.

At the beginning of the battle and before Thor jumped off in pursuit of the construct, he dropped hyperspace dampeners specific to the Wraith's hyperspace frequency. There was no escape for the badly beaten Wraith. The surviving Wraith that had formed an uneasy Alliance with the Vanir, were all destroyed to the last one. No quarter was given by the Alliance. They destroyed every Wraith ship to include any darts that tried to flee. Not a single Wraith survived the assault that day, at least none that had aligned themselves with the Vanir.

Thor breathed a sigh of relief and sat down heavily in his command chair. It had not been a totally one-sided fight. Even with the enhanced weapons and shields of the AZPM powered fleet, a full half had been disabled or destroyed. All of the Ha'tak that had joined the pursuit had been the first ships destroyed. Luckily for the FJN, Teal'c and Bra'tac were not on any of those ships. Their Ha'taks had been disabled to where they were not able to join the pursuit. Both of them would live to lead the FJN well into the future.

True to his word, as soon as the last Wraith ship was destroyed, Thor jumped into hyperspace to take the traitorous Vanir back to Othala for judgment. Captain Kawalsky hailed Atlantis to tell Ayiana of their victory and losses. He figured it would take several days to complete the recovery operations and the search for survivors among the debris. So he was extremely shocked to see two massive hyperspace windows open and deposit both Atlantis and Asuras into normal space. With the two city ships there at their disposal, recovery operations were completed in a few hours. All of the debris from the entire battle was collected and broken down into base replicator stock by the industrial replicators on both city ships before the remaining ships returned to the Lantea system.

Ships with damage were either towed back or if the damage was not too severe, jumped back under their own power. It would take weeks if not months for the Alliance to recover from the treachery of both the Vanir and the Wraith. All in all over the last few weeks since the Wraith had helped the Vanir escape, nearly one hundred UEC ships had been destroyed and over 10,000 people had been killed. It was a heavy loss in both material and lives. Ayiana was taking it hard since she was the one in overall command. She was sitting in her office crying when word came that a commander for the new Dreadnaught Class ship was coming through the gate. Ayiana got up and went into the latrine to wash her tear stained face.

Once she freshened up a bit she made her way to the control room to greet the new commander. As she entered the control room she stopped and looked around a bit confused. She didn't see anyone new in the control room. Then she realized there wasn't a new commander, it was a very close friend that was the NEW commander for the NEW ship when Colonel Samantha Carter turned toward her and smiled.

"Ayiana, I'm sorry I wasn't here as support during all of this. We were working on something back in the Milky Way that couldn't be put on hold." She said as she hugged her friend close. She could tell Ayiana had been crying just by looking into her eyes. "I'm truly sorry for all of the people you lost. The ships can be rebuilt and replaced, the people never can be."

Sam said trying to console her friend. Ayiana smiled and looked at Sam. "It's tough Sam. I mean I lost friends back before my people left for the Pegasus galaxy but not like this. We lost over 10,000 people in just over six weeks. But enough about me, how did you get command of the new dreadnaught? I figured that the UEC would try to keep you grounded and working on R&amp;D?"

Sam chuckled slightly. "They did try that but Jack overruled them. It's only temporary anyway as I hear a Colonel Abraham Ellis is getting overall command. I'll just be temporary commander for her shakedown and to test some new theories I developed back on Avalon. Once Colonel Ellis takes command, I'll be moved to command one of the tactical explorers when they are finished. It seems Daniel and I will be heading off to explore other galaxies here in the local cluster." Ayiana realized what that meant. "Oh Sam, congratulations I guess. Exploring new galaxies can be interesting but extremely dangerous too. Please be careful and try and keep Daniel out of trouble. He never goes looking for it but it always seems to find him." The two friends continued down the hall chit chatting about everyday life.

**Here's Chapter 7. Sorry again for the long delay but real life took precedence. I borrowed some ideas I was given in a PM from Knight121198. Thank you for the suggestions. I'll try not to keep Chapter 8 from taking so long but I make no guarantees. Enjoy and remember any suggestions you might have, please feel free to PM me. I have one more storyline for this actual story and then I need to find a new direction to go with it. I am leaning toward a merging of this story with the new BSG...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Atlantis**

**Ayiana's Quarters**

"NNNOOOOO!" Ayiana sat up screaming, with sweat pouring down her face. She looked around her dark room in confusion, the sensation of the fading nightmare cold and clear in her mind. She heard the voice of Colonel Sumner coming from her earpiece lying next to her bed. She scooped it up and hooked it over her ear. "Director, are you alright? The computer registered an unknown energy spike coming from your room." Ayiana's pulse was still racing.

"I'm alright Colonel. I just had a very disturbing nightmare. I might have unconsciously lashed out in my own defense." She said as she looked at the smoking hole leading into her personal bathroom.

"You might want to alert an engineer team for tomorrow. I think I may need a new bathroom door. Let me get a shower and get dressed then meet me in the control room in thirty minutes. Go ahead and contact our command staff, Thor, and Colonel Caldwell too. They are going to want to be in on this. If I'm not there in exactly thirty minutes, wait for me. I have something I need to do before I join you."

Before getting up to go shower, Ayiana, sat cross legged. She sat quietly for several minutes then reached out with her mind. In her mind, the room faded away and she was in a place that resembled standing on a cloud.

"Hello Ayiana. I wondered how long it would take you to try and contact me. Before you ask, you know it's against our highest law to interfere in the affairs of the lower planes." Ayiana looked around her in amazement.

"I actually didn't think I could do it." Then she stepped forward and hugged her friend. "It's good to see you Ganos. I know you can't interfere. All I need is a yes or no. Does that dream mean what I think it does?" She looked deeply into her friends eyes and the answer was clear. "I was afraid of that. I hoped we had dodged that bullet but deep down I knew better. Thank you. I won't trouble you anymore. You just make me a promise that you will keep the others off of me since I never ascended."

Ganos just looked sadly at her old friend. "I will do what I can to shield you but even though you never ascended, if you go after them like I sense you want too, the others will stop you." Ayiana looked frustrated. "So I'm just supposed to ignore this and let those fanatics come for the others when they gain enough power? When will those idiots realize that outdated strategy won't work anymore? As the humans would say, "The cat is out of the bag now and the Ori will come for them here. They will send their Priors first and when they have accumulated enough followers in the Milky Way, they will come for the others themselves!"

Ganos just shook her head in sadness. "You know what you need to do. Prepare my friend for the worst you can imagine." With that Ayiana opened her eyes to see herself sitting on the floor in the dark. She got up, showered, dressed, and then headed to the control room. She looked toward the on duty technician. "Please dial the SGC. I have to confirm some things before the meeting."

Once the connection was established and she saw General Landry on the screen she relaxed a bit. "General, I know it's late but I have to ask. Is Daniel alright? I just had a most disturbing dream." General Hank Landry looked a bit shocked. "It was touch and go for awhile but he and Vala pulled through." It was Ayiana's turn to look confused. "I don't think I know Vala. What has happened General?"

She could see this was going to take a bit. "General, I will come through the gate and we can have this conversation in a more secure fashion." General Landry smiled. "That will be most helpful Ayiana. I was going to call you when things settled down anyway. I'll see you in a few minutes." Ayiana turned toward Colonel Sumner whom had just entered the control room. "Colonel, please have the few I had you contact to wait in the conference room. I'll be back in a few minutes with more information."

With that she stepped through the gate and Colonel Sumner just shook his head. "It must be something pretty serious if the General didn't want to discuss it over an open line." He then gathered Thor, Colonel Caldwell, Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard, and Dr. Rodney McKay into the conference room. Teyla and Ronon were on Sateda, with several hundred UEC engineers, helping their people rebuild after the defeat of the Wraith. The Athosians had agreed to move there and help the few hundred remaining Satedans get a fresh start.

Thirty minutes later the gate activated again and Ayiana stepped back through and made her way to the conference room. She walked into the room and ordered the computer to isolate the conference room and seal it in a force field. Everyone except Thor looked surprised when she did that. No one but Ayiana noticed another barrier form around the outside of the other force field. With a sly smile she began. "What I am about to tell you must never leave this room. We are in more trouble now than if the Wraith had built a thousand Super Hives." She let that sink in for a few minutes before continuing.

An hour later the computer unsealed the conference room and the occupants left it with a very sobering look on their faces. Thor, Colonel Caldwell, Lt. Colonel Sheppard, and Dr. McKay beamed out before the _O'Neill II _and the _Avenger_ both jumped to hyperspace to carry out their respective orders. Both would make a quick stop at Earth for Thor to pick up Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres to add to his team with Lt. Colonel Sheppard. Ayiana went straight to the control room and had the technician dial Asuras before personally stepping through the gate to talk to Narim in person.

After she finished briefing Narim on what she needed him to do, she had the technician on Asuras dial Taranis so she could brief Chancellor Lycus, Norina, and Captain Lamis (the former Captain of the _Aurora_) on what she needed from them. All she could do was think to herself as she returned to Atlantis, _"Why didn't they contact me first before they let Daniel and Vala use that stupid communications device? I could have saved them the trouble and prevented them from alerting the Ori to our presence here. Damn humans are still too young and impetuous! Now they may have doomed us all!"_

**Milky Way**

**Earth orbit**

Thor dropped out of hyperspace over Earth long enough to beam Lieutenant Torres to his ship and jump back into hyperspace in route to Othala. Colonel Caldwell did the same thing except he beamed up Dr. Lee and the newly commissioned Lieutenant Jennifer Haley, before opening a hyperspace window and taking the long trip to the NGC-4945 galaxy in the Centaurus Constellation.

UEC ships in the Milky Way began seriously beefing up the defense turrets (mostly LGPS) around Earth, Avalon, Tollana, Dakara, Chulak, and the other UEC member homeworlds. The shipyards at Avalon switched production of the ships the Federation had gifted them with to the new ship designs Ayiana and her team had came up with.

The engineers had to reprogram the computers for the new designs and keyed mainly on the Dreadnaught, the Battleship, and the Heavy Cruiser. The Tactical Explorer would come along later, if there was a later. Since the Stargate Program was now public knowledge, a starbase and shipyards were under construction in the Sol system as well. Shipyards were taking shape not only on the moon at a newly constructed base, but near the asteroid belt as well.

_Saber II's _and _Defiant II's_ were sent in pairs to scout out every conceivable entry point the Ori might try to use to get to the Milky War. While the ships were searching for possible entry points, the SGC was still sending teams through the gate as well. Reports began to come in of pale looking men wielding great power coming through the gate and preaching about the Ori. Some of the former slave worlds of the Goa'uld that had Jaffa living on them, tried to fight back to no avail.

The favorite tool the priors preferred to use to frighten worlds into accepting Origin seemed to be a very nasty plague. The UEC though had the benefit of learning most of their medical knowledge from the Federation. The up side of that was the Federation was comprised of hundreds of alien races and their reality was populated with thousands of sentient species. So once a sample of the plague was analyzed, it turned out to be very similar to the plague Ayiana had been carrying.

Dr. Frasier sent samples of her findings to Ayiana to show her the plague that had nearly wiped out the Alterans so long ago, had been designed and implemented by none other than the Ori. As Dr. Frasier from the Federation had developed a vaccine to the plague Ayiana carried, it was fairly easy for the Janet Frasier of the SGC to develop a vaccine for the Prior Plague as they were virtually identical.

SGC teams began distributing the vaccine to any off world colony that had been infected. Within weeks the Prior Plague had been eliminated completely from the Milky Way. It was a minor setback for the Priors but they did not let that detour them from trying something new.

This new threat played right into the UEC's hands for certain occasions. After the fall of the Goa'uld Empire, a small group of thugs, smugglers, thieves, and basically gangsters, came in to fill the power vacuum left by the defeated Goa'uld. They called themselves the Lucian Alliance.

The Lucian Alliance came to be a force to be reckoned with when they raided a shipyard planet formally used by Ba'al to build Ha'taks. Now the thugs had ships and were working to consolidate their small but growing empire. SGC teams began getting wind of a new and highly addictive corn like substance called "Kassa" that the Alliance was growing and selling.

The UEC began locating worlds that Kassa was being grown by Alliance personnel only and not slave worlds. On the worlds the Lucian Alliance controlled themselves and where they didn't have a captive populace, the UEC began releasing the scarab beetle the Priors had created and locking out the gates. It was brutal and borderline barbaric but this was war. Wars are ugly and men do things in war that they wouldn't even consider in peace time. If it was a subjugated world where the people were forced into what amounted to slavery, the scarabs were not unleashed on them.

**Avalon**

**General O'Neill's Office**

"I don't care what it takes! I need people on those worlds to give me better Intel than we are getting now! If Ayiana is right, which I'm betting she is, the Priors are just the first wave; Next will be ships loaded with fanatical troops that think the Ori are Gods!" Brigadier General Jack O'Neill screamed. Richard Woolsey, the representative from the I.O.A. (International Oversight Advisory) just looked calmly at the irate General. "I understand General but the committee doesn't believe the threat is that serious. The consensus is that we can handle the Priors and no ships will be able to get passed the sensors the UEC has seeded around the galaxy."

O'Neill hit the roof. "Oh for crying out loud Richard, you know as well as I do that Ayiana is right and has done nothing but help us since we revived her! Hell, you even signed off on giving her command of the Pegasus Expedition! Why would she lead us on about something like this? She says these people have technology equal to that of the Ancients. We already know nothing short of a nuclear warhead will hurt the Priors because we can't get passed their technology!" Woolsey stuck to his guns and was proving to be a stubborn man even if he was a bit of a weasel.

When Woolsey left Jack's office, Jack sat at his desk with his head in his hands and thought quietly to himself. _"I guess it's a good thing I didn't tell him about the other part of the meeting with Ayiana that has Thor and Steven in two separate galaxies doing the same mission. I just hope Ayiana's plan works or this is the end of the human race as a whole."_ He sat for a little while longer until alarms in the base snapped him out of his distracted contemplation. He got up and made his way to the control room to see Teal'c and Bra'tac stepping out of the active stargate.

"T, Master Bra'tac, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" He asked sarcastically. Teal'c greeted his friend as did Bra'tac. "Our news is not pleasant O'Neill. We bring word of strange occurrences on our world of Kallana. A Prior has come through the gate and erected a powerful shield of some kind around the area where the gate is located." O'Neill looked at Bra'tac with a puzzled look on his face. "I wonder why he would do that. What else happened?" So Bra'tac went through the story as it had been told to him.

"Two days ago, the Prior arrived. He was challenged by the small guard contingent that was guarding the gate. He said nothing but "Hallowed are the Ori." The guards then fired their staff weapons but a shield sprang up around the Prior. He looked at them like they were nothing more than a minor annoyance before pushing his staff toward them. The staff glowed brightly and the guards were thrown many miles to their deaths. Since then the Prior has done nothing but stand inside the shield mumbling to low to hear clearly what he is saying and reading that infernal book they always carry."

Jack wrinkled his brow. "That is strange and a bit creepy." He turned to his right hand technician. "Walter, dial up Atlantis. I need to talk to Ayiana." A few minutes later Ayiana had made it from her chambers to the control room. "Yes General, what can I do for you." She asked still fighting off the sleep from being woken at 0300 in the morning.

"We have a situation on one of the planets controlled by the Free Jaffa Nation. I need you to get dressed as soon as possible and gate here to Avalon. I want you in the task force I'm sending to investigate. We can't get a lock on the planet and the Jaffa sent a cloaked cargo ship to find out if the gate was destroyed. It was still intact but somehow the Prior is keeping it active."

Ayiana thought a bit. "How long has the gate remained active General?" Jack looked toward Teal'c as he responded. "So far they've kept it open just over two full days." This slightly shocked Ayiana. "It is theoretically possible to sustain a wormhole indefinitely if you can pump enough power into it. Either the Ori are feeding it with their power or they are using a black hole on their end. Neither gives me a warm and fuzzy General." Jack grimaced. "I was afraid you were going to say that. Go get showered and dressed. The task force will depart in thirty minutes, Avalon out."

Twenty minutes later Ayiana stepped through the gate carrying a small bag. When General O'Neill looked at it curiously Ayiana smiled. "You never know when you'll need certain things General." Then she opened the bag and pulled out a small crystal then handed it to Jack. "Here is everything I could dig up on the Ori from our database on Atlantis. It's not much but maybe it will help someone think of something we didn't. You humans seem to have a knack of doing that."

She smiled as he took the data crystal. After she handed off the crystal, Ayiana was beamed aboard the command ship of the small three ship taskforce. The three ship scouting party consisted of two _Defiant II's _(the _Revenge _and the _Daedalus_)and one _Akira II _refit_,_ the _Thunderchild. _SG-1 was already on the bridge of the _Thunderchild_ waiting for Ayiana. Colonel Carter got up from the station she was occupying at sensors to hug her friend. "It's nice to see you again Ayiana, I just wish it were under better circumstances." Ayiana smiled and returned the hug.

"It's good to see you too Sam. Oh here, I already gave one copy to General O'Neill but I figured you'd want your own copy. It's everything that we had in the Atlantis database concerning the Ori. It's not much but it may prove useful to you in some way."

Sam smiled and plugged the data crystal into the console in front of her and began reading over the information as the three ships jumped into hyperspace in route to Kallana. The taskforce dropped out of hyperspace a few hours later and entered orbit above Kallana. Colonel Carter immediately began running active scans of the area surrounding the gate. "Sir, I'm detecting the shield around the gate but it's roughly twenty percent larger than the Intel we got from Teal'c and Bra'tac." She said as she looked up at Teal'c. Bra'tac had returned to Dakara while Teal'c had accompanied the scouting mission.

Captain Jamison, the commander of the _Thunderchild_ looked over at Carter. "Could we punch through the shield with phasers or maybe a phased quantum torpedo?" Carter thought for a minute while she continued her scans. "I wouldn't recommend a torpedo as we would risk the chance of destroying the gate and a large chunk of the planet. We could probably start at a moderate setting on the phasers and adjust the modulation of the beam manually until it punched through. I am detecting sustained staff blasts being fired into the shield on the planet."

Captain Jamison nodded. "Do it Colonel. We need to get that shield down to get to the DHD if we want to shut off that gate before the Ori invade and establish a secure beachhead." Carter began calibrating the weapons array to do what she needed done. It didn't take long and within a few minutes she was ready to initiate her plan.

"Ok Sir, we're ready to fire as soon as you give the word." Jamison nodded grimy. "Commence firing." Seconds later, bright crimson phasers erupted out of the forward phaser array and slammed into the shield over the gate. Sam began slowly adjusting the phaser's modulation in an attempt to match the frequency of the shield in order to punch through.

Ayiana had assumed Sam's former place at sensors. "Sam, cease fire immediately!" She commanded. Sam did, and then turned around. "Ok, why did you want me to stop firing?" Captain Jamison looked her way as well. "I would like to know why you countered my command as well."

Ayiana pointed to the screen in front of her. "I'm sorry about that Captain, I had too. Sam look here, the shield increased in size by another twenty percent seconds after the phasers struck it. It continued to enlarge by about a half percent per second until I told you to stop. It has stabilized now at forty-five percent larger than original estimates."

Sam looked shocked. "Ok, that's not good. How did that happen?" Ayiana thought for a bit. "The Jaffa were firing on the shield with staff weapons when we arrived. Teal'c can you contact them and ask how long they had been firing on the shield?" Teal'c did as asked then returned to report.

"The Jaffa on the planet began firing on the shield yesterday right after they sent the Tel'tak to contact Bra'tac and me." Ayiana did some quick calculations in her head. "Ok, that almost equals the firepower we used against the shield just spread over a longer period of time." Sam looked up in mild shock.

"You're right Ayiana. We'll have to risk destroying the gate with a couple of torpedoes. Captain Jamison, I would suggest beginning the evacuation of as many of the Jaffa as we can from the planet before firing torpedoes on the shield." As Teal'c moved off to carry that out, Ayiana picked up something else.

"Captain, we've got incoming vessels coming out of hyperspace in about two minutes. I'm reading five Ha'taks incoming." Jamison shook his head then looked over at his coms officer. "Open a channel to them." When she acknowledged his order Jamison looked toward the main viewscreen.

"Incoming Ha'tak vessels, this is Captain Jamison, commander of the UEC ship _Thunderchild._ We are currently investigating the situation at the request of the Council of the Free Jaffa Nation. How can we assist you?" The viewscreen came to life and showed a middle aged Jaffa with the seal of Montu emblazoned on his forehead in gold. "I am Gerak of the Jaffa High Council. This is a Free Jaffa world and we are here to handle the matter ourselves. The Tau'ri should never have been involved in matters that do not concern them."

"Gerak, we are allies and I beg to differ that the Ori establishing a beachhead in this galaxy concerns every inhabitant of the galaxy not just the Jaffa." Gerak didn't answer but just cut the communications. The five Ha'tak dropped out of hyperspace then moved into orbit and opened fire simultaneously on the shielded gate. The fire power coming from the Jaffa vessels was immense and Ayiana watched the results carefully.

"Captain, the shield is growing exponentially! They have to stop firing now! The Jaffa village has already been destroyed by the growing shield. If you are going to destroy it, I would suggest a full spread of phased quantum torpedoes now! There's also a Tel'tak exiting hyperspace near us."

Teal'c stepped forward. "It appears to be the same Tel'tak that came to warn the High Council of the Prior and the shield." The small cargo ship turned toward the UEC taskforce and requested to land in their shuttle bay. "Teal'c, I tried to get here in time to warn you that Garak had convinced the High Council that we needed to handle the situation ourselves. I am sorry I did not make it in time." Bra'tac's voice sounded over the speakers. "It is alright Old Friend. I will await you in the shuttle bay." Then he walked away to greet his mentor and friend.

The captain didn't bother looking at his tactical officer. He knew his orders would be followed without question. "Do it. Fire all forward launchers, full spread." With that order, the warship spewed forth over two dozen quantum torpedoes modified with the Tollan phase shift technology. But just before the torpedoes struck the shield, it appeared that a layer of lightning bolts touched each torpedo.

Captain Jamison looked to Ayiana. "What the hell was that?" He asked. Ayiana took a few seconds to answer as each torpedo struck the shield and exploded. "Captain, we've got big problems. It looks like the Ori have done their homework. That lightning discharge fried the phase shift circuitry and allowed the torpedoes to strike the shield full force instead of phasing through. The shield has spread to nearly encompass the entire planet."

She kept monitoring the fast growing shield. "They couldn't channel enough power to the shield through the gate so they used our own weapons fire to do it for them. They knew that we would try to destroy the gate to stop them. They tricked us and we fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The shield has completely surrounded the planet now. There is no way we can stop the invasion now. Wait, I think something is coming through the gate."

She looked puzzled before continuing to monitor the sensors. "Sir, we need to back off from the planet, the shield is beginning to shrink in diameter. If it continues at its current rate, it will crush the planet in a matter of minutes." Vala finally spoke up.

"Why would they want to destroy the planet they are establishing their foothold in this galaxy on?" Ayiana looked at her. "Because they aren't coming through that gate, they are crushing the planet with enough force to create a stable singularity to power a super gate."

The captain immediately ordered their small taskforce to fall back away from the planet. That's when Ayiana noticed the sensors showing objects were coming through the gate. "Sir, I was right. Something is coming through the gate, lots of things actually. They are rising fast out of the atmosphere." The captain looked her way. Two of the FJN Ha'taks didn't move fast enough and the fast moving objects blew through their shields, destroying both of them.

"Are they launching missiles at us through the gate?" Ayiana thought for a second. I don't believe so Sir, they are slowing down and holding in a circular pattern. It's as I feared. They are using the objects to form a super gate that will use the black hole for power when the shield finishes crushing the planet."

Again Vala started to say something. "Can't we ju…." Daniel cut her off before she could finish. So she tried again. "Look why do…." Daniel cut her off again. "We've got this Vala, not another word." The only person that noticed Vala leaving the room was Ayiana but she was too busy trying to figure out how to stop the gate from forming to understand Vala had already figured it out. It's not that Vala was smarter than Ayiana, far from it.

Not even Sam could match Ayiana in brain power and that was saying something. It's just on the world Vala originally grew up, they played a game similar to tick tack toe but it involved a large circle and you had to block your opponent from finishing their circle first.

As the block pieces continued to form, Vala exited the shuttle bay in the Tel'tak that Bra'tac had just arrived in. "Open a channel to that cargo ship." Captain Jamison ordered. "Jaffa Tel'tak, I wouldn't advise approaching the planet. The shield is about to collapse and create a black hole. You'll be destroyed if you try to get through it to land." That's when Ayiana knew she should have said something about Vala leaving.

"I know Captain. I was standing on the bridge when Ayiana told everyone that but no one would listen to me." They all heard Vala say. Daniel lunged forward. "Vala! What are you doing? Turn that ship around and get back here. What do you think you can do?" There was an almost impossibly long pause.

"I'm doing what I have to do Daniel. I tried to tell you on the bridge but you kept interrupting me and then you said you all could handle it. I'm doing what you wouldn't do." With that Vala wedged the Tel'tak in the space between the last few forming blocks. A massive feedback began running back through the incomplete gate just as the planet was crushed into a rapidly expanding black hole.

"That's it. She did it. The gate is tearing itself apart and we'll be next Captain if we don't leave here now. The black hole is forming." Daniel watched in silent horror as the Tel'tak exploded and the gate did tear itself apart. As the taskforce along with the remaining Jaffa ships turned away from the newly formed black hole, Ayiana pursed her lips together.

"Ok, that's weird. I just picked up what looks to be a matter stream leaving the Tel'tak and being pulled into the black hole." Daniel looked around. "Wait, does that mean she survived?" Ayiana shrugged her shoulders. "I would say there is a very strong possibility." She said and hoped that brought Daniel some comfort.

Over the next few weeks, the UEC stepped up their efforts to increase its ship production. Construction on numerous new shipyards began in earnest. Construction vessels ramped up construction of defense turrets, primarily the Alteran LGPS with enhanced shielding. It was hoped that the Alteran technology would at least be on an even footing with the Ori. Along with the LGPS all of the _Aurora _and _Avenger _class ships were distributed between the Sol, Avalon, and Tollanan systems. The only Alteran warship absent was the _Avenger _as they were in the NGC-4945 galaxy on an important mission approved by the I.O.A. and UEC.

UEC built ships were patrolling as many areas as they could cover in an attempt to catch the next attempted incursion. Some but not all of the UEC ships dispatched to the Pegasus galaxy had been recalled in order to have five ships in each wing patrolling together in small wolfpacks. The Wraith had been hunted down mercilessly in the Pegasus galaxy. The few hives that weren't outright destroyed had signed a treaty and surrendered. As part of their surrender, they had agreed to take a treatment (developed by Dr. Beckett, the Asgard, and Ayiana) that would allow them to eat normal food like a human instead of having to feed on humans.

Colonel Carter worked on enhancing sensor arrays to help detect the formation of any new singularities. Daniel and Jonas Quinn were busy working on Alteran tech they had discovered in a cave near Stonehenge that was only accessible by rings. Daniel had discovered (confirmed by Ayiana) that Merlin had been an Alteran charged with overseeing the development of the Lanteans.

So Daniel began searching through volumes and volumes of data from anywhere he could find references to Merlin. Daniels search led him to a planet called Camelot (ironically) and a secret laboratory of Merlin's. Nothing was making much sense and Daniel was beginning to get frustrated. That's when the word came in that one of the patrols had discovered a much larger and fully complete supergate in orbit of a micro-singularity that used to be P3Y-229.

**Earth**

**Stargate Command**

General Landry was on the phone with the President of the United States and General O'Neill was standing in the doorway listening. "Yes Mr. President, I understand the I.O.A. wants all of the Alteran warships to remain in Earth orbit to protect Earth but if we can stop the ships at the gate, Earth will be protected!" General Landry waved for General O'Neill to come in and have a seat. "Mr. President, the I.O.A. can remove me if they want but I will do what I know is more tactically sound! I'm not trying to insult them but not one single member of the I.O.A. has any Military experience at all. Keeping our best ships here instead of meeting the Ori at the gate is just plain stupid! Yes Sir, I understand, Landry out." General Landry hung up the red phone with enough force that Jack thought he would break the receiver!

"I take it you're not having a good day Hank." Hank Landry just looked his Superior Officer in the eye. "Jack, that's the understatement of the century. The I.O.A. refuses to let the Alteran ships be a part of the task force that we are sending to either destroy the gate or try and stop the Ori once they do come through. I can partially see their point but if the Ori manage to destroy all of the ships at the gate, how would we stop them anyway if they do reach Earth?"

Jack could see Landry's point and could sense the frustration pouring from the man. "Hank, there's something I need to tell you but it cannot leave this room." With that he got up, closed the door, activated a jammer, and then told him about the total contents of Ayiana's dream and the missions that the _Avenger_ and Thor were carrying out.

General Landry went against the orders of the I.O.A. somewhat after hearing the full details of the two highly classified missions. He sent the _Aurora_ and every ship not dedicated to planetary defense to try and stop the Ori at P3Y-229. He also received word that the Asgard, not involved in the mission with Thor, would commit an _O'Neill II_ warship to the defense. With the ten Ha'taks that Teal'c was able to bring, that gave the UEC thirty one ships, including the Asgard ship, capable of fighting. In all there was the _Aurora, _one new Dreadnought class _Apollo_, four _Akira's_, four _Intrepid_ class light cruisers, five each of the _Defiant II's_ and _Saber II's_. Most everything else was still too badly damaged to fight, still under construction, or in planetary defense fleets.

The task force dropped out of hyperspace and was immediately hailed by the _Revenge_ (who was part of the scouting force that found the gate). "Glad you could join the party General. We have tried to destroy the gate as have the Jaffa. Neither of us have had any luck. The gate seems to absorb the energy from our weapons to include the photon and quantum torpedoes." General O'Neill didn't like the sound of that. "I see Captain, I'm not sure what else we can do other than deploy and wait for them to show. I will get Carter and Kvasir on it though and see if they can come up with something."

Thirty minutes later, Sam and Kvasir had only been able to come up with a plan that might or might not work. The assembled Captains of all the ships were sitting in the holodeck of the _Apollo_ (that had been programmed to run a larger conference room than the standard room the ship carried). "Kvasir and I have come up with a way where we might be able to stop the Ori from dialing the gate to send troops through. A supergate works on the exact same concept as a normal stargate; it's just a lot bigger. We propose to dial out before they can dial in." She held up a control crystal.

"I will go out on an E.V.A. (extra vehicular activity) and install this control crystal then Kvasir will dial an unused gate near a black hole in the Ida galaxy. We should be able to keep the gate open indefinitely since it is being powered by the black hole. Does anyone have any questions?" When no one said anything, General O'Neill stood up. "Thank you Colonel, if there's nothing else, return to your ships and I'll send the defensive formations we will be using to each of your ships. This plan was developed by the greatest strategic minds in the UEC. This is not negotiable. You will stick to the plan the UEC has developed or leave, simple as that."

With that statement, the meeting broke up and the preparations finalized for the expected arrival of a technologically superior attack force. Sam got suited up and was beamed just off the surface of one of the segments that Kvasir had determined was a central control hub. Carter was giving a running commentary as she worked. "Ok, I've got the access panel off and am in the process of reprogramming (rearranging current crystals to allow their control crystal to take over) the system." Just then a surge of energy began coursing through the gate. Carter realized instantly that she was in trouble. "Uh guys? Something's happening and I just lost the magnetic lock on my boots."

General O'Neill stood from his command chair on the _Aurora_. "Get her out of there now!" He virtually screamed. Ayiana was at the weapons station for the _Aurora_ worked the console for all she was worth. "I'm having trouble locking on with all of the interference from the gate. I'm adjusting and fine tuning targeting scanners, one moment. There, got her! I'm beaming her to the bridge." A few seconds later, Carter materialized on the bridge. She immediately shed the heavy suit and took a seat to handle the sensors.

Every crew in the entire task force held their collective breath as twin lines of crackling blue energy surged up both sides of the huge gate until they met in the top center of the gate. The unstable vortex of the forming wormhole exploded out of the massive gate just as it did from its smaller, better known form. Within seconds, the front of an extremely massive vessel pushed through the event horizon. As it continued to emerge, several involuntary gasps were heard among the crew on several ships throughout the task force. After the first ship finished exiting the gate, ten more ships of the same design followed. As each ship exited the event horizon, it made a turn either to the left or right. The Ori fleet formed a partial horse shoe shaped line.

Ayiana looked up. "General, we're receiving a message, text only." O'Neill groaned. "Great, what's it say?" Ayiana would have laughed if not for the seriousness of the situation.

"And those who are prideful and refuse to bow down shall be laid low and made unto dust." O'Neill looked a bit confused. "Is that all it says?" Ayiana nodded her head. "Yes Sir, that's all. Wait, Daniel is answering from the _Thunderchild_, putting it on speakers." The speaker crackled once then they heard Daniels voice.

"Then did Tyolus say to the people, "Seek not wickedness amongst your neighbors lest it find purchase in your own house." O'Neill looked to Ayiana again. "They are both quotes from the book of Origin. I would surmise it's a warning from the Ori to submit or be destroyed."

"Energy spike, they're firing!" Carter yelled from sensors. Eleven beams shot from the dish shaped depression on the nose of the eleven Ori warships targeting eleven separate ships. Five of the FJN Ha'taks were targeted and the Ori beams tore through their shields like they weren't even there and destroyed the five Ha'taks with one shot. The _Aurora_, the _Apollo, _the _Thunderchild, _and three of the _Intrepid _light cruisers shuddered under the punishment but their shields held.

"Return fire, weapons free, I say again weapons free. Hit them with everything you've got!" With that the UEC fleet broke formation and cut loose with everything they had. Crimson phaser beams, blue Asgard ion pulses, crimson photon torpedoes, blue quantum torpedoes, and yellow plasma bursts from the remaining FJN Ha'taks filled the space between the two opposing fleets. Beams from the Ori ships reached out to touch more ships and three more Ha'taks disappeared in silent fireballs while the one Teal'c was in took a glancing blow that nearly tore the ship in half.

"Transporter room beam as many people as you can get off of the Jaffa flagship. She just took a partial blow from the Ori weapon and lost shields. Our readings are showing all critical systems are destroyed. Bravo Strike now!"

Ten ships shimmered into existence behind the Ori invasion fleet. Part of the strategy was to have the _Defiant II_'s and _Saber II_'s cloak and not engage until ordered to do so. Once that order came, they were to drop cloaks and each of the classes would concentrate their fire on one vessel each. As the ten ships fired, they banked away while firing off their aft weapons and cloaking again. Both of the Ori ships targeted had their shields flare then fail under the massive firepower of ships designed to fight the Borg and powered by the new AZPM developed by the Pegasus science team. Of the thirty-one ships here at P3Y-229, only twelve had the AZPM upgrades. General O'Neill had decided in order to give the smaller ships like the _Saber _and _Defiant_ a better chance at surviving the fight, they needed the AZPM more than the larger ships currently powered by Asgard neutrino-ion reactors.

"Target those two ships and fire!" O'Neill yelled when he heard the report that their shields had collapsed. Pulse cannons on the _Aurora_ lanced out to the closest ship while heavy phasers from the _Apollo_ shredded the other unshielded ship. Both wounded Ori ships exploded silently in space. The tactic had worked perfectly or so O'Neill thought.

Four of the Ori ships broke formation and moved off away from the gate. The other five remaining began teaming up with two targeting one ship at a time while the remaining fifth ship added its beam to any ship that held up two the combined beams of two ships. Using this technique, two _Intrepids_ were lost with the first shots. The second volley took out another _Intrepid _and left the _Thunderchild_ drifting without power.

General O'Neill wasn't happy. "Alright screw this strategy! Break and attack! Use attack pattern Delta. Stick to your assigned wing man. Ayiana, what the hell are those four ships doing?" Ayiana and Sam conferred quietly and came up with the same conclusion. "They are trying to find our cloaked ships. They are blanketing the system with wide band sensor scans but unless they use tachyon scans, we don't think they will find them."

Just then the two attack wings decloaked and targeted two more ships. It didn't work quite so well this time. The reason for the wide band sweeps became instantly apparent when two of the four ships hunting the attack wings opened fire with their secondary weapons the instant the two wings dropped their cloaks. Three of the _Sabers_ and two of the _Defiants_ were hit before they could transition between cloaks and shields and disappeared in fireballs. The remaining two _Sabers_ were speared by the main weapon of the other two of the Ori warships hunting the attack wings. They had made the transition to full shields but the shield emitters were overloaded by the shear firepower of the Ori beam weapon. Both ships lost shields and took heavy damage but weren't destroyed flat out as the Ha'taks had been.

Their survival was short lived as the other two Ori ships that had destroyed the other _Sabers_ finished them off. O'Neill sank into his chair in despair. "Order the remaining _Defiants_ to maintain their cloak and warp out of here. Once they are far enough away, they are to jump to hyperspace and head straight for Earth. They may be the only ones to survive this." Once the order was relayed, the three remaining _Defiant II's_ went to warp and left the system.

One of the Ori vessels that the last attack had centered on had its shields brought down to thirty percent. Ayiana noticed and didn't wait for orders from General O'Neill and targeted that ship with the Alteran pulse cannons. "That's three Sir, eight more to go." Ayiana said as the targeted Ori ship tore itself apart as its reactor core lost containment.

The next thing the General knew, he was lying on the floor of the burning and smoke filled bridge of the powerful Alteran warship. He turned his head to see Sam lying close to him with her eyes closed and blood pooling under her head. He slowly crawled his way over to her and draped his arm over her before passing out.

Colonel Ellis stood from his command chair in horror. "My god…. Helm move us between the _Aurora_ and those ships now. Begin beaming as many people as you can out." He had just seen all five Ori ships still in the line target the _Aurora_ at the same time. Five beams converged onto the forward shields and collapsed them tearing the ship in half.

The _Apollo_ shot in front of her wing man pouring phasers from all arrays, torpedo volleys shooting as fast as the tubes could reload, Alteran pulse cannon fire from every turret that could lock on a target, and the spinal mounted ion guns firing on anything that was in front of the ship. It was an impressive display of firepower and managed to destroy two more Ori warships with the Asgard _O'Neill II_ adding it's firepower to the destruction. They had managed to destroy five of the Ori invasion fleet but so far at the cost of all ten Ha'taks, all five _Saber II's_, one of the _Akiras_, three of the _Intrepids,_ and the _Aurora_. This was not a good start and the fight had only been going less than ten minutes.

Colonel Ellis was in a quandary trying to decide if they should continue the fight or fall back before they lost everything. He only took a few seconds to make his decision but in those few seconds, the Ori targeted his ship with three of theirs and the other three tried to pin down the _O'Neill II_. "Colonel Ellis to remaining fleet, break contact and warp out in any direction you are facing. Get out any way you can and meet at the rendezvous coordinates." He was then thrown to the floor as his ship was slammed with three Ori main weapons simultaneously. "Shields down to three percent, hyperdrive offline, weapons offline, venting atmosphere on multiple decks, and the list goes on. But the good news is I managed to get us into warp."

The battle for P3Y-229 had gone very badly for the fledgling UEC. The entire battle had lasted less than twenty minutes and they had lost twenty-six out of thirty-one ships and had only managed to destroy five of the eleven Ori ships. Not a good day, not a good day at all. The only good news was the _Apollo_ had managed to beam General O'Neill, Ayiana, and SG-1 (minus Daniel) off of the _Aurora_ before jumping to warp and escaping. Daniel had been beamed from the drifting _Thunderchild_ when it lost power earlier in the battle.

As Kvasir turned his ship away from the battle and jumped into hyperspace, he sent a signal to the specially designed receiver on the reactor core of the _Thunderchild_. As the receiver activated it sent a series of commands into the two neutrino-ion reactors powering the ship. Instantly both reactors started generating massive amounts of power but it was not going into powering the dead ship. Within seconds both reactors overloaded and vaporized everything that was left of the defeated UEC ships still in the system.

The Ori ships closest to the _Thunderchild_ had been moving closer to the drifting ship with the intention of boarding it. They detected the signal and the power build up and jumped to hyperspace. The two ships on the perimeter didn't react quickly enough to the warning from the closest ship and were caught in the blast wave. So the UEC and their Asgard allies managed to destroy seven of the eleven Ori ships in the first wave but at a terrible price. If things didn't change soon, this war would be over almost as soon as it started.

The five remaining Ori ships went back to P3Y-229 after the blast wave had dissipated to see if there was anything left to salvage and study. They knew this would be a hard fight (or at least the Priors did) but no one anticipated losing seven ships out of the first wave. The fact that one of the ancient enemy's warships had led the defense had startled the normally unshakable Priors. Once they discovered there was nothing left to salvage, they sent a message back through the still open gate. They needed reinforcements and they needed them soon if they were to be successful in converting this galaxy to Origin.

**Fleet Rendezvous Coordinates**

**Five hours after the battle**

Ayiana was buried under a console in the engineering section of the _Apollo_. She was working as hard as she could to get the hyperdrive online. Thanks to her Alteran healing ability she was the only one from the bridge of the _Aurora _that hadn't been confined to medbay. Carter had sustained a major head injury but would pull through with plenty of rest and time to recuperate. General O'Neill had broken both arms, one leg, his collar bone, and had several internal injuries but he would recover also thanks to the advanced medical equipment on the _Apollo_ and some quick work with a Goa'uld healing device by one of the Tok'ra on board. He had used the same device on Carter and several of the more seriously injured crew members before Ayiana managed to get power back to the medbay.

Ayiana had at first thought the hyperdrive had suffered too much damage to be repaired without weeks in a drydock. The subspace communications array was destroyed so she couldn't call back to Earth to get the proper parts. She had also helped stabilize several of the worst injuries using her Alteran healing abilities so she was exhausted and not thinking straight.

Colonel Ellis walked into engineering to check on the progress of the repairs as the internal communications were still down. He could have used his combadge but he had been walking through the entire ship so he could see the damage with his own eyes. Anyone that saw him could tell he was thinking about something seriously. "How are you coming on the hyperdrive Director?" He asked as he stopped next to the console Ayiana was buried under.

He heard a slight bang as she apparently thumped her head in surprise at hearing his voice. "Ouch, well Colonel, I don't think I can fix the damage without being in a drydock. Some of the relays were completely burned out and we don't have the replacements on board."

Colonel Ellis looked toward the door that opened into the hallway with a puzzled look on his face. "Speaking of burned out, when was the last time you used so much energy healing someone? The reason I ask that is you helped design this ship and you of all people should know that it is equipped with an industrial replicator which happens to be just across the hall from this room."

His eyes widened at the string of Alteran curse words that poured from under the console as Ayiana pulled herself out from under it. "You're right Colonel. I should have known that but it never even crossed my mind. I'll have the hyperdrive back online in ten minutes then I'm going to get something to eat and crash out."

True to her word, she not only had the hyperdrive back online but she also replaced the destroyed subspace communications array so Colonel Ellis could contact Earth and let them know the situation. The _Apollo_ had not made it to the fallback coordinates as they had to travel at warp instead of in hyperspace. Kvasir had assumed they had been destroyed as he had witnessed the combined attack on the ship as he jumped into hyperspace. When the _Apollo _hadn't arrived at the coordinates for over five hours, Kvasir had turned back toward P3Y-229. He had just jumped into hyperspace when he picked up the subspace signal from the _Apollo _to Earth.

He then waited until the signal was cut to hail them himself. "Colonel Ellis, this is Kvasir. I am pleased that you survived. I had feared you would not survive that last attack." Colonel Ellis' face appeared in the viewscreen of the Asgard warship. "We almost didn't and I was worried myself for a little bit Kvasir. But we made it out and as you obviously heard in the message to Earth, we were able to recover the General, Ayiana, SG-1, and all of the crew that weren't killed when the ship broke up. We'll head to the Alpha site then reroute from there to Earth to complete repairs."

Kvasir blinked then answered. "I will relay all of my sensor data of the battle to Earth before I proceed to Othala to get the data to Thor and Colonel Caldwell. They will both need the data to improve the chances of their missions being a success." With that the Asgard cut the communication and altered course for the Asgard homeworld.

**Earth twelve hours after hearing from the **_**Apollo**_

"You've all seen the data that Kvasir sent to us and the data from the _Apollo's_ sensors. We got our collective asses handed to us on a silver platter. The ships that Teal'c brought weren't upgraded yet. They brought what they had as they lost their entire fleet with the upgrades helping defeat the Wraith. Most of the High Council are being swayed by Gerak and are blaming us for their losses." General Landry paused to look around the room.

"I ordered the _Revenge_ back to the scene of the battle under cloak. They arrived there about two hours ago just in time to record this." He pointed to the screen in the briefing room. It showed one Ori ship sitting near the gate as ship after ship came through the event horizon of the supergate. "I didn't think they had enough time to build that many ships. Who knows, maybe they had a fleet already built and just now found where the Ancients were to start their Crusade."

"We caused this and we are going to fix it." General Landry was obviously upset. Colonel Mitchell looked around the room. "Sir, if I may? Sir, we got whooped badly. I'm all for fighting to the death just like any self respecting Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine would. I'm just not all that excited about fighting a battle we just can't win. We lost most of the ships we have and one of the strongest. I'm just saying we need a new plan and a damn good one."

General Landry looked over to General O'Neill whom was sitting in a wheel chair still recovering. When Jack nodded his head, Landry picked up the remote and pushed a few buttons. To say the attendees were shocked when a forcefield surrounded the room would be an understatement. What they heard next was even more shocking.

"What I'm about to tell you is classified above any of your levels. Only five other people besides the ones on the missions even know about it. Three of them are in this room." He pointed to General O'Neill, Ayiana, and himself before continuing." Just over two months ago, on the day that Vala and Daniel used the communications device and allowed the Ori to know the location of the Ancients; Ayiana had a vision about the danger they were in. She gated here to meet with Jack and I then gated to Avalon with Jack. I knew what had occurred but even I didn't know about the missions that Jack asked Thor to help with and also sent the _Avenger _on." With that he told the whole story that Jack had told him.

"Make no mistake, they will be coming for us and anyone they determine can hurt them. Kvasir was able to remotely overload the reactors on the _Thunderchild_ before he jumped to hyperspace effectively destroying anything the Ori could use to gather intelligence against us. We may not be so lucky the next time. As you can see, they sent another nineteen ships to join the five they had left from the initial wave. That gives them a total of twenty four ships in our galaxy with the possibility that more could join them. We have to either destroy the gate or somehow dial out to prevent them from dialing in."

Ayiana took over here. "Sir, may I? Kvasir, Colonel Carter, and I figured a way to do just that but weren't able to accomplish it before the Ori dialed in. First we'll have to send a ship to the Ori galaxy and disengage the gate on that end before we can dial out. I sent the necessary specifications to Narim to have him modify one of the _Defiants_ I asked him to build into what would be a flight III version for now. It will house not only two of the newly designed miniature neutrino-ion reactors but it will also have a station like the one in Atlantis that holds three of the new AZPM's." She paused and took a deep breath.

"Narim, with the help of the Asgard and several Lantean technicians, was able to seriously reinforce the power conduits to handle the massive power output the reactors and AZPM's generated. Every system on the ship has been reinforced exponentially to handle all that raw power. The Asgard also donated their latest experimental hyperdrive to test. The ship was finished thirty minutes ago and should be here any minute." The room was so quite you could hear the chairs squeak when someone shifted their weight.

"I've already given them the coordinates to the Ori home galaxy and the general area the supergate should be on that end. Once they have tested the hyperdrive in getting here, I'll look it over and if everything checks out, they should arrive in the Ori galaxy in about two days. We just have to hold out until then and hope they don't send any more ships through." The room got even quieter than it had earlier (if that was possible).

General Landry stepped forward. "Well, that is something for us to look forward too. Kvasir should have reached the Ida galaxy several hours ago and both Thor and Colonel Caldwell should have received the data soon after. We'll just hope it was in time as well. We all have work to do so if there is nothing else, dismissed and good luck to us all."

Three days later the supergate shut down but in the three days, another dozen ships had come through. Kvasir had given Ayiana the address to the gate in the Ida galaxy that they had planned to dial before the first wave arrived. The UEC had left the cloaked _Revenge_ near the supergate to observe it and to be able to dial out the instant it shut down. Captain Halsey was ready and ordered the dial-up as soon as the gate shut down whether he was on the bridge or not. The _Vengeance_ (the highly upgraded _Defiant III_) was under orders to guard the gate in the Ori galaxy and relay via databurst anything that approached the gate on that end. Ayiana just hoped the Ori's fear and hatred of her ascended people would keep them from interfering directly. No matter how powerful the new ship was, it didn't stand a chance against an ascended beings power.

Two days later, an Ori ship showed up at the gate to send a progress report home. It didn't take them long to realized something was wrong when they didn't get a response from home. As it drew closer to the gate to investigate, the two days of hard work the remains of the UEC fleet had put in paid off. Dozens of cloaked LGPS shimmered into view and fired on the lone Ori ship. It was destroyed so quickly, it never had the chance to send out a distress call. The LGPS simply recloaked and moved a little further out from the gate to cover a larger area.

Barely three hours later five Ori ships dropped out of hyperspace to investigate the reason they had lost contact with the ship that came to send off the weekly report. Captain Halsey sat contemplating his next move. He was extremely confident that the nearly one hundred LGPS that had been built and towed to the system could easily destroy the five ships. What he was unsure of was if they could destroy them fast enough to keep them from sending a distress call.

He was about to order the firing of the LGPS when his tactical officer called out. "Captain, I'm picking up a SGC locator beacon on the lead ship. According to the signal, it's Vala." Captain Halsey looked over in surprise. "Are you sure? Vala was lost at Kallana I thought?" He looked over to his XO who responded. "According to Ayiana, a matter stream left the Tel'tak and was drawn into the black hole. Theoretically the stream could have locked onto an Ori ship on the other side or a nearby planet with a ring system. We just don't know enough about that type of technology mixed with the power of a black hole to really even begin to guess what is possible and what is not."

Halsey thought for a minute before making his decision. "Can you get a lock on her and beam her out?" The Lieutenant at tactical looked over his console, studying the readings. "I believe I can adjust the targeting scanners to match the shield frequency just enough to pull her out. Wait, they are powering down shields. I have a lock and can transport on your order." Captain Halsey looked up. "All of them have powered down their shields?" The Lieutenant nodded. "They must be getting cocky. Beam her out now and order the LGPS to fire as soon as she is out. Helm, be ready to take us to warp if we have too."

Roughly a second later Vala was beamed out and the LGPS' decloaked and fired before the Ori ships could raise their shields. Now the Ori fleet was down to thirty ships to include the original five from the first wave, the nineteen from the second wave, and six remaining from the third wave. Things were slowly getting brighter for the UEC, or so they thought.

**Ori Command Ship**

**In orbit of Chulak**

Adria was furious. Not only had the hated humans managed to destroy six more of her ships, they had managed to steal her mother from one of them and somehow to block reinforcements coming from home. In her rage the Orisi (an enhanced human born without copulation and containing the knowledge of the Ori) had lashed out, killing two of her commanders that had brought her the retched news.

"Gather the fleet here. We will exact righteous vengeance and punishment on the fools called the Tau'ri for daring to defy the will of the Ori!" She walked over to a plotting table with the Commander of the ship, Tomin, her father (or step-father if you wanted to look at it that way). "Once the fleet is gathered, I want half sent here (she pointed to Avalon) and the other half I will lead in an all out attack against the Tau'ri homeworld of Earth. Once these two strongholds are destroyed, the rest will fall." Tomin just bowed his head. "As you command Orisi." He left her presence to give the orders to gather the fleet.

Six hours later the fleet split in half and jumped into hyperspace. There were fifteen ships in each fleet heading to Avalon and Earth. It was about to get really ugly for the UEC.

**Earth and Avalon**

**Two hours later**

Alarms began sounding at Earth and Avalon at almost the exact moment. General Landry came running down the stairs from his office to the control room. "What is it Walter? (Chief Master Sergeant Harriman had been recalled to Earth right after the battle at P3Y-229) Are they here?" All CMSgt Harriman said was. "Yes Sir, but they are also at Avalon as well. All ships signal ready and satellites are in hot stand-by." General Landry just sighed. "Let's just hope we have enough." He said as he counted the fifteen blips approaching in hyperspace.

The hyperspace jammers forced the Ori ships out of hyperspace outside of both systems. Adria looked around to kill the Commander but Tomin was not on the bridge, he was down in one of the ring rooms near the fighter bay with the rest of the ground troops. So she just screamed her frustration causing every Soldier on that deck to bleed from their ears. The only one that didn't suffer ruptured eardrums was the Prior sitting in the control chair. "Find out what forced us out of hyperspace and destroy it!" Adria screamed to the Prior. "Yes Orisi, it will be done." His staff began to glow a bright blue for several seconds and all fifteen ships outside of the Earth system fired all of their weapons destroying most of the jammers.

Ayiana knew they would find the cloaked jammers easily but there was no way to prevent that so she had moved several of the LGPS and had hundreds of pulse phaser and torpedo turrets constructed outside of the star system. The millisecond that the Ori ships fired on the jammers, the cloaked defense satellites decloaked and open fire from further out. Only one Ori ship was destroyed before the remaining fourteen managed to destroy the turrets and satellites. In the Avalon system four ships were destroyed before the defenses were taken out.

With that, twenty-five Ori ships (eleven at Avalon and fourteen near Earth) jumped into hyperspace again. Adria was beyond pissed and she was using her anger to fuel the singularities powering the ships thus increasing their shield and weapons strength. She wasn't sure why the Ancients were allowing her to use her power that way but she was determined to fight them if they tried to stop her. Maybe they weren't as powerful as the Ori had assumed. She had no idea that the Ancients could stop her but didn't because they were curious as to what was going to happen next with these humans. They in turn had no idea that Ganos Lal and an old friend of hers were hiding what was coming later from them.

It hadn't taken long for the fourteen Ori ships around Earth to virtually destroy every defensive system and ship in the system. Even with Adria using her power to boost the ships power, four had still been destroyed. It didn't matter to her though; ten ships would be more than enough to completely destroy Earth. Part of her subconscious was telling her to subjugate Earth and not destroy it but she had overruled that part as Earth's history proven they would find a way to fight back. Destroying them outright was the best course of action.

In the Avalon system, the fight had been much more even. Even the power of the Ori couldn't stretch the needed distance to provide the Ori warships the same power boost the ships attacking Earth were getting. One ship had survived the fleet, turrets, and LGPS only to be destroyed by the massive starbase and planetary orbital defense cannons. No UEC ship was undamaged enough to make the hyperspace journey in time to help Earth.

As the curious Ancients and other ascended beings were watching the battle unfold, several of them looked up in shock as they sensed something. Two fleets of ships were entering the Milky Way from two separate directions. The ascended Ancients could sense the fleet was a mix of their technology, their Allies of old (the Asgard), and the technology of the Earthers from the other dimension. But there was something different about these ships. They were moving far faster than the _Aurora_ or any ship the Ancients had ever designed. The power they were generating far outpaced anything they had ever built. Adria sensed it as well but before she could do anything, other than order the Prior to jump to hyperspace, these fleets tore out of hyperspace and attacked like the avenging angels of destruction they were.

The first volley alone destroyed every ship in Earth orbit save Adria's as hers had jumped into hyperspace. But they hadn't arrived in time to stop the destruction of several major cities across the surface of Earth. Washington D.C. was a smoking crater as was New York, Berlin, London, Moscow, and Tokyo. Ori weapons fire had lashed out at least three times per city and some even more. Powered by the hatred and will of the Ori through Adria, the devastation had been horrendous. Tens of millions were dead and dying if not hundreds of millions. Earth had been saved for now but had paid a terrible price.

**Flashback to the night of Ayiana's dream**

"General, I will come through the gate and we can have this conversation in a more secure fashion." General Landry smiled. "That will be most helpful Ayiana. I was going to call you when things settled down anyway. I'll see you in a few minutes." Ayiana turned toward Colonel Sumner whom had just entered the control room. "Colonel, please have the few I had you contact to wait in the conference room. I'll be back in a few minutes with more information."

With that she stepped through the gate and Colonel Sumner just shook his head. "It must be something pretty serious if the General didn't want to discuss it over an open line." He then gathered Thor, Colonel Caldwell, Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard, and Dr. Rodney McKay into the conference room. Teyla and Ronon were on Sateda, with several hundred UEC engineers, helping their people rebuild after the defeat of the Wraith. The Athosians had agreed to move there and help the few hundred remaining Satedans get a fresh start.

**Stargate Command Earth**

Ayiana was sitting in the briefing room with General Landry and General O'Neill telling them of her conversation with her old friend from before the four Alterans left to oversee the development of the Lanteans. Moros (Merlin of course), Ganos Lal, and two others she did not name made up four of the five council seats on Atlantis. The fifth was filled by the Lantean scientist Janus. She told them what she knew of the Ori and confirmed a lot of what Daniel and Vala had experienced. She learned the story behind how Vala came to join the SGC and would have laughed if the current circumstances weren't so dire. Once she finished General O'Neill gave General Landry specific orders to prepare a small number of people for an extended mission but did not give the details of the twin missions. General O'Neill and Ayiana then gated back to Avalon where he sealed his office in a forcefield and activated scramblers.

"You said you had an idea how to prepare for this but you didn't want to tell Hank. Spill it Ayiana, what gives?" Ayiana took a deep breath before laying out her plan. "I've wracked my brain trying to come up with a viable solution and it all boils down to not having enough time. Then I thought about two things. One, Merlin created a device that can shift people and things into an alternate reality that the others can't see." She made a pointing motion to the ceiling to indicate the ascended Ancients.

"I know I was frozen when he created this but my friend left images of it in my mind along with images of what he used it to hide from the others. He created a weapon that could destroy ascended beings. But that's not a part of the plan just yet. I want to give that device and another like it to Thor and Colonel Caldwell. Also I want two time dilation devices from the Asgard to go along with the mantel. Mantel is what the device Merlin made to shift to other dimensions is called." She paused for a breath.

"Once they have the people they need, the devices, and the new style industrial replicators with Asgard beaming technology, we send them to another galaxy. Thor would go back to Ida and Colonel Caldwell will take the _Avenger_ to the NGC-4945 galaxy in the Centaurus Constellation. Once they reach their respective locations, they activate the mantel to hide their actions from the others. Once they shift dimensions, they program the computer to build multiple shipyards and start them building ships using the most advanced technology from all of three technology bases we have." General O'Neill was nearly foaming at the mouth as he wrapped his mind around what she was saying.

Once the programs are complete, the crew would go into stasis pods and activate the time dilation device to speed up time for the shipyards. For us only a few months will pass but for them nearly one hundred years will pass. That is why they will need the stasis pods. Some of the Asgard won't since they haven't downloaded into the new Hok'tar (as the Goa'uld called an advanced human). Simply put we had to create what Anubis and Nerrti tried to create. It was the only way the new body could contain the massive consciousness of an Asgard mind. We were able to correct the genetic defect so some will use the corrected clones until the mission is complete. After the mission is complete, all of the remaining Asgard will transfer to the Hok'tar. Using this method, between the two groups, they should be able to build several hundred ships more powerful than anything this universe (that we know of) has ever seen."

General O'Neill thought for a second. "Ok, how is Colonel Caldwell going to carry the crew and stasis pods to crew hundreds of ships?" Ayiana smiled. "He's not Sir, he will take several cloning vats and Asgard with him that will monitor the progress and clone Hok'tar bodies to transfer the stored Asgard into. The few clones will start the process for cloning bodies and down loading the consciousness about two or three years from the end of the time dilation." O'Neill's face lit with glee at the thought. "Oh Ayiana, you may have just saved this galaxy and many others from the oppression of the Ori. By the way, it's kind of ironic that you may have helped defeat the very people YOUR people should have millions of years ago!" Ayiana squinted her eyes at the General. "Don't push it Jack, you won't like it if you make me mad." Jack laughed nervously as he remembered her story of her unconsciously blasting her bathroom door into slag. Then he realized she was screwing with him when she smiled. "I'll admit we screwed the pooch back then. That's why I have busted my butt trying to atone and fix the mistakes my people made so very long ago." She sighed deeply.

"Speaking of which, there are three things we need to do to finish this war with the Ori once and for all." She went into explaining the next three crucial missions that the UEC would need to accomplish after securing the Milky Way, Ida, and Pegasus galaxy from further attacks by either the Ori or the Wraith.

**Ok, here's chapter 8. I ran into writers block about halfway through as I realized I was making the UEC uber powerful when I added the AZPM. I had to think of a way to bring them down a notch or two. I know a lot of things happened throughout this chapter that raised them out of that lowering and into the most powerful force the galaxy has ever seen. I am close to winding this one down though and I wanted to leave them on a high point so I can get into the other ideas I have for this story. There is still a debt to repay that will be coming soon. Hope you enjoy and as always all reviews and ideas are welcome. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Earth**

**High orbit aboard the **_**Avenger**_

Ayiana stood staring down at the areas of devastation caused by the Ori weapons fire on Earth. Granted it was only a handful of cities but those few cities were key centers of power for the planet Earth. Washington D.C. was the center of power for the United States and since the United States was the major player in the Stargate program, this attack had the country in chaos. Then add New York, London, Tokyo, Moscow, and Berlin into that equation and you had effectively decapitated the fledgling UEC. Beijing and Paris were the only capitals of the original IOA nations that were left intact. New York had been the home of the United Nations so that was another blow to Earth. The estimated death toll was over one hundred million people and rising. Not only were the cities themselves destroyed, but the Ori beam had generated a lethal form of gamma radiation that had killed tens of millions more than the population of the cities alone.

Ayiana hadn't realized she was crying until Larrin stepped up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Larrin, Ayiana, and less than a dozen people were all that were able to be saved from the _Harbinger_ when the Ori nearly destroyed it during its defense of Earth. "We did the best we could. It would have been much worse if the _Avenger_ and her new fleet hadn't arrived when they did. That was a brilliant stroke of pure genius for you to set up that plan the way you did. I'm still not sure exactly how you pulled it off but it worked." Ayiana smiled through her tears. "Thank you Larrin. I'm just upset that over one hundred million people had to pay the price my people should have paid long ago. We caused this. We let this happen by not fighting the Ori so very long ago. None of this should ever have happened." Larrin was at a loss for words so she simply smiled and stood there watching the Earth under her.

The beeping of the communications console and the long range sensors shook Ayiana out of her trance. The Lieutenant at sensors looked up. "We've got incoming! My god that's a lot of ships!" The newly arrived fleet started scrambling to get into defensive positions. But Ayiana wasn't even showing any concern. In fact she had a puzzled look on her face.

"Signal the fleet to stand down. It's not an attack fleet incoming." With that space tore open all around the Sol solar system as Tollan, Hebridan, Tok'ra, Asgard, and even several Nox ships left hyperspace. Ayiana was puzzled because she had sensed the Nox and was curious about why they would show up. That thought was soon answered as an Asgard beam snatched her to the conference room aboard the new UEC dreadnaught _Vanquisher_. She blinked and looked around at the assembled races represented in the room.

Thor stepped forward with Lya at his side. Ayiana couldn't help but notice how small and almost childlike Lya seemed to be as she mentally compared her to the giant of an Asgard Warrior. Thor now looked like something out of Viking legend but wearing modern power armor. Thor remained quiet while Lya began explaining. "Ayiana, Thor has shown us the wondrous things you and the Asgard race have achieved with the assistance of the Tau'ri. We had thought they were too young to be of any assistance therefore not worthy of an alliance with the Nox. Though we still believe them to be too young, with the guidance and wisdom you and the Asgard have provided them, they show... potential to be much more than we first believed." Ayiana hadn't realized she had been holding her breath or about to jump down the tiny Nox's throat until she felt a bit light headed.

Ayiana looked at Lya as Lya's eyes twinkled letting her know that Lya knew what she was feeling. "I know you were about to defend the Tau'ri and you would have been right to do so. Thor and the Tollan have shown that we were wrong in our initial assessment and have already argued strongly that the Tau'ri be recognized as the fifth race. The Nox are still deliberating on that subject but we have agreed to lend any help we can in cleaning their world and healing it of the horrific damage done by the Ori. The Nox stand by our peaceful ways but we do have ways of healing an ecosystem that not even the Alterans or the Asgard possess." Ayiana breathed easier on that.

"Lya, I know you and your people have a way with natural ecosystems that our technology could never hope to match. The damage to the Tau'ri world was extensive before the Ori attacked. Decades of burning fossil fuels and other pollutants has poisoned their world almost to the point of failure. Now with the massive radiation poisoning from the Ori attack, without help, it would take centuries for their world to heal and millions if not billions more would die first." Thor interjected into the conversation then.

"I have instructed several _Daniel Jackson_ science vessels to proceed to each impact sight. They have already begun cleaning up the lethal levels of radiation contamination. It will not take them many hours to complete their decontamination therefore allowing the Nox to do their work safely." Lya dipped her head in acknowledgement before Thor continued. "I have tracked the Ori ship carrying Adria and am leaving with a taskforce to either capture her or destroy her if capture should prove impossible. To increase our chances of capturing her, we will need you Ayiana." Ayiana blinked and was about to answer when a blinding light filled the room. When the light dimmed, everyone except Ayiana and Lya stood staring in shock at the lovely woman, clad in a glowing aura and standing in the middle of the room. "Hello again Ayiana, it's nice to see you again."

Ayiana hadn't shown her surprise but she was a little confused. "Ganos, it is nice to see you again too. What's going on and why have the _others_ allowed this?" Ganos Lal simply smiled. "Old friend, they have realized the threat the Ori pose but will not intervene directly. They are allowing me to assist you only in capturing Adria and removing the Ori influence from her. Since the Ori "cheated" as the Tau'ri would say, the _others_ are making this one "concession". We watched the battle and were slightly surprised that you had managed to merge Alteran technology with both Asgard and the humans from the other reality and make it work." Deep in her mind, Ayiana felt a small touch and knew Ganos was implanting something she would have to try to access later in the protection of Merlin's phase shifting device.

Ganos then turned to Thor. "The _others_ have set some rather strict rules for this engagement. I will only be allowed to prevent Adria from using her Ori given powers against you. Ayiana will have to deal with the Prior and she will need help." She said as she looked into her friends eyes. "I know you think you could handle the Prior and you may very well be able to deal with him alone. I just don't want to risk something going wrong. These people need you more than you know." Ayiana accepted the explanation and looked toward Thor. Before she could speak though, Lya said something that left everyone in the room including Ganos, standing in shock with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide. "I will accompany Ayiana and help her with the Prior as well. I will not fight directly but I can help shield her from his power without actually becoming involved in the violence myself."

Ganos recovered from her shock before the rest of the room. "That will be much appreciated Lya. I had not counted on your help but it is most welcome." Lya dipped her head in acknowledgement. "I understand and have shocked my people as well." She said as she indicated Anteaus and Ohper standing near General O'Neill and President Hayes. Both of the other Nox in the room were simply looking at Lya. It took someone like Ayiana or one of the Asgard to notice how surprised they really were at Lya's simple statement. A massive predatory smile crossed Thor's features. Since Thor had been transferred into his new Viking like body, he had acted more and more like the Viking legends of old (or a Klingon B'Elanna thought).

"Glorious, it will be a battle worthy of song!" Thor declared. No one in the room could help but laugh at that. "General O'Neill, Mister President, with this addition to our force, I suggest we leave immediately before Adria can find a way to escape. You both know I support the addition of the Tau'ri to the Alliance. The Chief Archon supports the addition as well. With Ayiana already lending her support to the addition, the only vote we are missing and cannot ascertain is the Furlings." Ganos looked up and Ayiana could sense she knew where the Furlings were or at least what had happened to them but saying so would violate the non-interference law. Ayiana thought for a bit but decided to file this little tidbit away to be addressed later.

Ganos couldn't suppress a smile before fading toward the wall of the room. "I'll meet you there and we'll put an end to this atrocity in this galaxy." As Ganos phased though the wall, Thor turned and bowed slightly at the waist to General O'Neill and President Hayes before beaming out to his new flagship. Thor had used his time helping the UEC, to design and build his own ship. The ship was named _Well of Urd _after the meeting place of the Gods of Norse legend. In reality it was the name of meeting hall of the Asgard High Council where they met to discuss the activities and disposition of the Asgard Empire.

The _Well of Urd_ was a completely new and unique design when it came to Asgard ships. All of the previous designs of ships followed the same basic design with the _O'Neill _class being a larger and sleeker design. All of them had to vertical stabilizers to the rear and a longer, almost hammerhead shape to the front. This ship was shaped more like a cross between the Ancient Alteran ship _Destiny _and a Klingon Bird of Prey. The _Well of Urd_ was nearly twice the size of an _O'Neill_ and carried more than five times the firepower.

Thor had liked the design of the two and three barrel turrets used by the Alterans on the _Destiny_ and the _Avenger_. But instead of the plasma pulse cannons they used, Thor had used rapid fire ion pulse cannons. He used the pulse phaser design from the Federation but with ion rotary cannons as well for fighter and anti-missile defense but in close they could do massive damage against a ship once the shields were breached. If the shields weren't down the CWIS rotary ion cannons would put a massive strain on the shields of the targeted ship.

The most destructive guns on the ship were the spinal mounted plasma cannons. The unique thing about these spinal mounted weapons is they could fire using three different modes. Each of the four cannon could fire a sustained plasma beam, a pulsed beam, or a magnetically contained plasma "shell". The "shell" was accelerated by magnetic fields until it exited the muzzle it was traveling at nearly the speed of light.

The ship was powered by three Arcturus reactors backed up by six neutrino ion reactors and three AZPM stations like the new _Defiant III's_. The shields had also been changed from the standard Asgard "bubble" shields to the Alteran hull hugging design. Though the ship was massive, it cut through space with the agility of a much smaller ship.

The only ships besides fighters that were capable of matching the agility of the _Well of Urd_ dreadnaught were the _Defiant_ or _Saber_ classes. Thor was confident that he could take on and destroy the Ori ship even with Adria on it. He did feel more comfortable with not only Ayiana going along but having a true ascended Ancient lending a hand. He had seen the sensor scans of the power Adria had been able to supply to her fleet. He could only imagine what she could do with only one ship to boost.

While the Allies and members of the UEC began to help Earth with relief supplies and humanitarian aid, Thor and his taskforce of ten ships jumped into hyperspace. The taskforce would consist of the _Well of Urd_, the _Avenger_, and eight of the new _Vanquisher_ class Dreadnaughts. It didn't take them long to track down and catch up to the Ori warship. As the taskforce dropped out of hyperspace, the _Well of Urn _and the_ Avenger_ launched dozens of small hyperspace dampeners to keep the Prior from jumping into hyperspace again.

The taskforce had a much longer range than the Ori ship and opened fire the instant they entered weapons range. The_ Well of Urn_ was the first one to reach weapons range and the massive spinal mounted cannons hummed with power as they spat four plasma "rounds" toward their target at .9 of light speed.

The rounds impacted the Ori ship with enough power to drive the ship sideways against the direction it's engines tried to push it. The shields still held and it was clear that Adria was using her power to reinforce the shields. So it was logical that she would use her power to increase the weapons power as well. There was a flash on his bridge as Ganos entered the ship and took Ayiana and Lya by the hand before flashing through the opposite side of the bridge. Thor felt the touch of her in his mind telling him to keep firing and to be ready to transport over with reinforcements the instant the shields dropped.

Adria was even madder now than she had been during the battle for Earth but there was also a massive overshadowing of fear that she was not used too. The fear intensified as she sensed the approach of Ganos and there was nothing she could do about it. Ganos pierced the shield and hull of the ship like they weren't even there. Seconds later she entered the bridge with Ayiana and Lya to confront Adria and the Prior. Adria was terrified, this shouldn't be happening. "You're not allowed to interfere!" Adria screamed. Ganos smiled evilly. "Your actions here have allowed us to "interfere" as you say. You created a virgence by impregnating Vala so you could try to "pull the wool over our eyes" as the Tau'ri say. I'm here to call your bluff and send a powerful message to the Ori."

With that Ayiana unleashed a concentrated physionic attack at the Prior while Ganos attacked Adria in a battle of physionics and wills. The sound of boots clanging on the metal deck floor drew a slight response from Ganos. She raised her hand toward the door and sent the Ori Soldiers sliding back down the hallway to pancake against the far wall. Lya turned and motioned with her hand, causing the door to slide shut and seal. Without Adria being able to reinforce the shields as all of her concentration was going into defending herself from Ganos' powerful assault, the shields quickly failed and hundreds of Asgard warriors and UEC Marines beamed onto the Ori ship. The fight to capture the ship was much shorter than the fight to capture Adria.

Adria was desperate to find a way to win this fight that she happened to be losing badly. She could sense the enemy warriors when they boarded her ship but there was nothing she could do to stop it. Ganos and Adria both were bleeding from numerous wounds they had given each other. The Prior finally succumbed to Ayiana's attack and that sent Adria over the edge. In her mind the only reason Ayiana was able to defeat her Prior was because of Lya's help. She lashed out at Lya with as much power as she could muster.

Lya didn't even scream. She just slammed into the bulkhead with enough force; the crunch of bones could be heard over the noise of battle. Now it was Ayiana's turn to be overcome with pure rage. She looked down at the fairy like Nox lying crumpled on the floor and her rage only grew. She turned toward Adria and even Ganos felt a chill pass through her. When Ayiana unleashed her focused rage, Adria was blown completely through the door and through several walls before coming to rest in a supply closet. Ganos paused only long enough to heal Lya before pursuing the Ori agent.

Ganos found Thor standing over Adria's broken and bleeding body. He looked up in confusion and Ganos and Ayiana came to stand at his side. "I thought we were trying to capture her?" Thor stated in confusion. Ayiana looked at him and blinked. "She hurt Lya and I lost control. I couldn't help myself and I lashed out with all of the rage I could feel burning inside me." Ganos leaned down and pulled the broach from Adria's neck. She held it up and crushed it in her palm. She then leaned back down and placed her hand on Adria. Ganos' hand glowed brightly and Adria's wounds closed. She then pushed her other hand into Adria's forehead.

As Ganos Lal stood back up, a reddish light or mist seemed to follow her hand as she stood straight. She looked at Ayiana before glowing brightly herself and lifting through the ceiling. Ayiana watched until Ganos was gone before collapsing into a sobbing heap on the floor. She had seen the deep sadness in her friend's eyes and felt she had crossed a line that shouldn't have been crossed. Medics had gotten to Lya and had transported her back to the _Vanquisher_ so the advanced medical bay could finish what Ganos had started. Adria had been transported there as well but under heavy guard. Thor stayed by Ayiana's side until she stood up and asked to be transported to the _Vanquisher_ as well. She could see the worry in his eyes and she tried to reassure him but it didn't seem to do much good.

Ayiana did not make it back to the _Vanquisher_, she felt the beaming process finish but she was standing in a room where she could see nothing as far as the eye could see except a low fog covering the ground. She knew Ganos or one of the others had intercepted her and that she was probably about to be punished. So to say she was shocked when her friend appeared before her in a flash of light and hugged her tightly crying, would be an understatement. "Ganos, what's wrong? Did I screw up that bad that the others are going to punish me?"

Ganos almost laughed at hearing that. "No you didn't screw up. Yes, I sensed something very dark when you lashed out at Adria in a way you should not have been able to do without being ascended. But it is my fault for not ending the battle quicker than I did or to at least keep her so occupied that she wouldn't have been able to hurt Lya. Lya was counting on me to deal with Adria so she was completely and literally "blindsided" as the Tau'ri say. You are not in trouble though, neither of us are. The _others_ even helped destroy the Ori essence that was controlling Adria. She is as normal as an Alteran can be." Ayiana was curious what her friend meant and was about to ask when Ganos explained.

"Once the Ori influencing her was removed, her body reverted to the advanced state that we ourselves enjoyed before we ascended or fled back to Avalon when we ran from the Wraith." Ayiana was still stunned that the _others_ had actually taken an active role, sort of anyway. Ganos smiled at her friends shock and confusion. "Adria will be transported to Keb where Oma will help "rehabilitate" her. You have other concerns that will help you take your mind off of all this." Ayiana looked deeply into her friends eyes and understood what she needed to do. "Good bye for now Ganos, I know what I need to do."

A few seconds later she was standing on the bridge of the _Vanquisher_. She still felt bad about losing her temper earlier but she had taken what Ganos had told her to heart. She turned to General O'Neill who had taken command of the _Vanquisher_ for the time being. "Sir, the _others_, she made a motion toward the ceiling, are taking Adria and "quarantining" her on Keb. She will be returned to the UEC when she is deemed no longer a threat to the galaxy." O'Neill blinked and looked toward Dr. Jackson. "Daniel, I thought the _others_ didn't get involved with us lower beings?" Before Daniel could answer, Ayiana intervened. "General, Ganos has managed to convince the Council that the Ori posed to serious of a threat to be ignored. They are still limiting their involvement and expect me, since I never ascended, to take the fight to the Ori."

The silence on the bridge was deafening. Daniel looked back and forth between Ayiana and General O'Neill. "What do you mean take the fight to the Ori?" Ayiana just shook her head. "Not here, we have to wait and we'll need to have a meeting with the captains of at least twenty of your most powerful ships." She could see Jack was about to raise some objections. "Sir, I know you feel we will be leaving Earth vulnerable but I assure you, the Earth, this Galaxy, the Ida galaxy, and the Pegasus galaxy will still be perfectly safe. The two secret reinforcement missions were able to build a fleet of ships that nothing in any of those mentioned galaxies can come close to challenging."

One hour later there were twenty ships captains, Ayiana, Thor, Daniel Jackson, General O'Neill, General Landry, and President Hayes gathered in the conference room of the _Vanquisher_. Ayiana walked to the front of the room and activated a device sitting on the table. "What I'm about to tell you is classified Top Secret Omega Black." The gathered captains looked around the room in mild shock at Ayiana using the highest level of security known. "The device I have just activated was something invented by the former head of the Alteran High Council known as Moros to Alterans but you would know him better as Merlin." She paused as the murmur in the room rose. She could hear some of them making jokes.

"I know some of you think I'm joking. I can assure you that I am completely serious. Some of you were witness to the ascended being that entered this same room just before the mission to capture Adria. That being was a good friend of mine before she left for the Pegasus galaxy and eventually ascended. Her name is Ganos Lal but you will recognize her as Morgan Le Fey." Again the murmurs rose but no jokes circulated this time as some of them had indeed witnessed her appearance. "The device has shifted this entire ship into an alternate dimension that the ascended beings cannot see into nor can they hear us here. That was necessary to plan the next phase of the war against the Ori." She paused and looked toward President Hayes. When he smiled and nodded his head once, she continued.

"It will actually be two phases implemented within twenty-four hours of each other. Phase Charlie will begin twenty four hours after Phase Bravo due to the relative distance of each phase's target. Phase Bravo will be carried out in this galaxy with a task force of ground troops. Merlin created another device that was specifically made to destroy an ascended being." There weren't any murmurs at all this time. Everyone in the room was stunned into complete silence. "I'm not sure exactly where this device is located and Ganos was not able to tell me because of the non-interference laws. She was however able to give me a good place to start the search." She turned to face Dr. Jackson. "Daniel has already found our starting point but because of the arrival of the Ori, we were not able to follow up on it. Immediately after this meeting, both phases will begin. Phase Bravo will gate to Camelot and search through Merlin's library for anything that can lead us to the Sangraal." Daniel's face lit up with the realization of what that was.

"Phase Charlie will be the twenty captains in this room under the direct command of General O'Neill. He will have his flag on the _Avenger_ and lead an expedition through the supergate. Phase Charlie will be broken down in two parts. Charlie One will be tasked with finding another Alteran artifact created before my people left their home galaxy to come here. The artifact is called the Ark of Truth and is a powerful device that will literally erase the brain washing of the Ori and allow their followers to see the truth. If my memory of the tails told to me by my mother is accurate, the Ark should be somewhere in the ruins of the last city my people occupied right up until the moment they left to find a new home." A set of coordinates came onto the screen followed by a 3-D view of the planet where another set of coordinates were highlighted on the planet itself.

"Charlie Two will consist of the remaining nineteen ships broken down into four wings of four ships each and one support wing of three being centered on the _Avenger_ flanked by two Asgard dreadnaughts." She nodded her head toward Thor.

"Those four wings will be performing tactical raids throughout Ori controlled space. They will target convoys, shipyards, supply depots, and anything that involves a military infrastructure. General O'Neill's wing will stay around the planet called Celestis and protect the assault team looking for the Ark. Celestis is the center of Ori power. Their ruling city is there and it is where the Priors are created and also reside. So make no mistake ladies and gentlemen, they will fight with everything they are worth to protect their homeworld. That is the reason you are holding off twenty-four hours later than Phase Bravo. It is to give us ample time to find the Sangraal and activate it in the Ori galaxy, otherwise when you reach Celestis, you will end up having to deal with the Ori directly. No matter how powerful your ships are, you cannot survive a direct attack from an ascended being. Ganos proved that by passing through the fully powered shields of the _Vanquisher _and the shields of the Ori ship even though they were reinforced by Adria herself."

She paused for a breath before continuing. "After the Sangraal is activated, there should be no more danger from the Ori directly. Their followers on the other hand will still be a major threat until the Ark is activated in the presence of either one of the Priors or the Doci himself." She looked around the room at the silent captains. "If there are no questions, I'll turn the briefing over to General O'Neill." She stepped to the side with a slight bow and took a seat. Jack slowly walked to the front center of the room. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I will not order you to go on this mission as it has a very high chance of failure. However we do believe this is our best chance to win this war outright without losing an exceptionally large number of people. I say that to let you know that I believe we could beat the Ori with conventional means with the fleet we have now and are continuing to add too. On the other side of that argument, the greatest minds of this new Alliance have assured me we can achieve the same goal without sacrificing so many more lives. You have your orders, if there are no more questions, consider yourself dismissed."

One of the captains stood after a little bit of murmuring. "General, Mr. President, let me say that you don't have to worry about ordering us to do this mission. We saw firsthand what the Ori did during their attack on Earth. They broke through with ten warships and killed almost two-hundred million people. We all know that if you don't bow down to their backwards religion, they destroy you. We're with you Sir, too the man." He sat down to the murmur of agreement and applause from every single person in the room. While the assembled captains made their way out of the conference room to make final preparations for the mission, Ayiana and Daniel stayed seated with the President and General O'Neill. Ayiana had turned off Arthur's Mantel, the phase shifting device, then reactivated it when everyone but the four still seated had left.

"I waited until we were alone before bringing this up. I don't plan on taking more than twelve people total on my mission. I want Daniel and two SG teams of Marines in full battle armor. One of the teams has to include Sergeant Jack Reynolds. Daniel and I will also be wearing the armor but I feel two fully armored Marine fire teams should go as a precaution." General O'Neill looked to the President. "I agree Mr. President. This is too important to take a chance on something going wrong. Two fire teams in full battle armor should be enough to ensure success." He didn't get an argument from Henry Hayes.

"You'll get no argument from me General. I agree one-hundred percent that this is way too important. Are we even sure it's real and will work?" Ayiana leaned forward. "It all happened between the time the Alterans left for Pegasus and now. I can only go by what Ganos, whom I trust completely by the way, has told me since I went into stasis not long after they left and was frozen until your people rescued me." President Hayes steepled his hands together and leaned forward as well. "I'm not saying she isn't trustworthy Ayiana, it's just tough to rely on the word of someone that has always avoided interfering." Ayiana dipped her head in understanding.

"You're perfectly correct in being skeptical in that aspect Mr. President and if it were anyone else other than Ganos, I would feel the same way you do. You see, in Arthurian legend, Morgan Le Fey, Ganos Lal, was Merlin's greatest rival and for a time, she was. The _others_ sent Ganos to stop Merlin from building his device or to destroy it if he had finished it. The longer Ganos spent performing her mission, the more she came to believe Merlin was right. She made a deal with Merlin and as your legend goes, she sealed him in a cave for all eternity. In reality, she did seal him in a cave but it wasn't as punishment, it was to protect him." She let that sink in.

"She did destroy the Sangraal but she preserved the one person capable of building it again. Merlin is in a stasis chamber on a planet inaccessible by ship. The clues to find the address of that planet are hidden in Merlin's library on Camelot. I am confident we will find those clues quickly in thanks to me, as a true Alteran, being there." Hayes chuckled at that obviously vain comment. "Very well Director, you have my approval for your mission and you may use your discretion as you see fit." With that Ayiana turned off the Mantel and they all departed to prep for the mission.

Two hours later, Ayiana and her team stepped through the gate on Camelot. One of the team of Marines happened to be an extremely regular participant of as many renaissance festivals as he could find each year. He was the Sergeant Reynolds that Ayiana had insisted be a part of her team. Ayiana left the two Marine fire teams outside while she and Daniel talked to the village leader and historian. Both agreed that Merlin was a trickster and there was a curse on Merlin's library that would bring terrible disaster to the town. Daniel was getting frustrated so Ayiana sent him outside with the rest of the team.

"Ok, I'm only going to explain this once. I am the last surviving member of the Alteran High Council. We are the people that built that big ring that Arthur used to go through on his quests. I have the power and knowledge to break that curse and defeat the Black Knight once and for all." With that every chair in the room, occupied or empty, levitated off the floor. She then pointed to the hovering chairs. "This is just a sample of the power I wield." This time, while the chairs stayed airborne, several pieces of silverware lifted from the table Ayiana was sitting at and begin to spin in slow circles. "I promise I will not let the Black Knight harm anyone in your village." With that statement, she slowly lowered everything back to its resting place. Several villagers jumped up and ran from the room.

Meurik, the town leader, gulped in fear and gave his consent for the village historian, Antonius, to open the library for Ayiana. Ayiana thanked him and apologized for scaring him and his people. Meurik swallowed nervously. "It is alright Director (Ayiana had told him her title during the first part of their discussion) if you truly have the power to defeat the Black Knight and lift the curse, we would be eternally grateful." Ayiana smiled.

"I will just lift the curse; one of the Marines in the scary looking armor will defeat the Black Knight. He is an expert swordsman and very familiar with the style of fighting the Knight will most likely use. Meurik, for this to work, you'll need to gather all of your people in one building or in one place and keep them there until Sergeant Reynolds can defeat the Black Knight." He nodded that he understood. With that she got up and followed Antonius out of the door, only stopping long enough to tell Sergeant Reynolds the plan.

Ten minutes later, every villager was gathered around the city square while Sergeant Reynolds stood next to the sword embedded in the stone in the center of the square. Ayiana stood behind Antonius waiting for him to open the door. Ayiana used her highly evolved senses to observe the building. "The door is protected by a forcefield of Alteran origin. I can see the subtle variance in the light spectrum."

She looked at the key held in the historian's hand. "May I see the key?" She could see the reluctance to hand it to her in Antonius' eyes. "You can still keep it in your hand, just hold it here in front of my eyes and turn it slowly." Looking vastly relieved, Antonius did as he was asked. "Just as I thought; the key is not only a key to unlock the door, it serves to deactivate the forcefield as well." She smiled at the nervous historian. "It's ok Antonius, you can open the door."

Just as Ayiana had said, the instant the key touched the barrier of the forcefield; it flared slightly and shimmered out of existence. Antonius unlocked the door and stepped aside to allow one of the Marine fire teams to enter and clear the room. Ayiana rolled her eyes as she knew it was safe and if Merlin had left any surprises, it would have been on the door. Well at least here in the base library. Once the Marines exited, she stepped inside with Daniel right on her heels. She stopped in the middle of the room and began slowly and carefully inspecting the entire library inch by inch. When she saw what she was looking for she turned to Daniel. "Daniel, look over there. I see a hidden door behind that small bookshelf. It's well hidden and without being a full Alteran with highly evolved senses, I would have missed it. Get ready; I have a feeling that opening that door will activate the "curse"."

With that she keyed her radio. "Sergeant Reynolds, we are about to open a hidden door in the library. If I'm right, the Black Knight will make his appearance when we open it." She waited for a short bit. "I read you Director, don't worry, I feel like my entire life has led me to this moment." Ayiana shook her head in wonder thinking, "_These humans never cease to amaze me with their positive and sometimes VERY cocky attitudes._" She walked over to the hidden door and looked back at Daniel. "Here goes nothing, as you humans like to say." She said with a nervous smile. She reached up and pulled the book her senses told her was the trigger to the door.

The bookcase swung open and Ayiana walked in looking around the room in amazement. "This is it, he'll appear soon. We used these types of control consoles quite a lot. Personally I hate them and the way they move. Give me a good old holographic, interactive touch screen any day." Daniel was about to laugh when he heard a scream from the city square. He looked at Ayiana, torn between wanting to stay with her or run out and help whoever screamed. "Go, see if you can help Sergeant Reynolds, and just remember, it's only a hologram but it will be much more sophisticated and thus more deadly than the one at Glastonbury cave."

Daniel was out the door like a shot with a relieved expression on his face. It didn't take long for Daniel to reach the courtyard and what he saw scared him. Sergeant Reynolds was having a hard time with the Knight as his combat knife (because he hadn't been able to pull the sword from the stone) wasn't having any effect on the Black Knight. He was about to run and jump on the Knights back when a young girl ran across the courtyard and grabbed the handle of the sword in the stone. It seemed a useless gesture as each Marine had tried to pull it and couldn't budge it even with the increased strength the battle armor gave them. She drew the sword from the stone as easily as if she had drawn it from a well used scabbard. She turned toward Sergeant Reynolds and got his attention before throwing the sword to him.

Once the sword touched his hands, it was like he became a different person. Granted his technique was the same as before but the sword was much more effective than his combat knife had been. It was clear to Daniel that the sword and the hologram program were tied together.

It was also clear the Knight was ran by either an advanced AI (artificial intelligence) or a VI (virtual intelligence that wasn't as smart or sophisticated as an AI) as it seemed to learn from Sergeant Reynolds. It still wasn't enough to stop the Marine Sergeant from defeating the Black Knight. The expert swordsman parried a heavy blow, twisted his blade letting the weight of his opponent, cause the knight to slide down his blade. As the Black Knight stumbled forward, Sergeant Reynolds dropped to his knee and twisted his sword again to drive the point into the small gap between the helmet and the breastplate. The weight of the knight drove the blade held by Sergeant Reynolds through its holographic throat and out the back of the helmet.

The whole town cheered and crowded around Sergeant Reynolds and the young girl, who was named Valencia, congratulating them both. Sergeant Reynolds pulled his helmet off even though the internal climate control of the suit turned off once the seal was broken. He extended his hand to Valencia and thanked her for helping him. "Thank you, I wouldn't have survived or won without your help. You've earned a friend this day, never forget that."

Meanwhile in the secret lab of Merlin, Ayiana had been studying the control panel. She could sense a subtle change and noticed a slight movement in some of the panels. She keyed the mike on her radio. "Daniel, what happened? There was a slight shift in several of the panels." She could hear the cheering in the background when Daniel answered. "I can see why you specifically wanted Sergeant Reynolds to be transferred to your team. He's good and has just defeated the Black Knight." By the time Daniel returned to the room hidden in the library, Ayiana had part of the answer she wanted. Merlin had appeared in a holographic recording along with treasure that filled the entire room. Town leader Meurik had followed Daniel into the room and stood amazed at the sight of Merlin. He had turned to run from the room in fear but a word from Ayiana stopped him.

"Wait Meurik, it's not what you think. It's not really Merlin. It's simply a holographic recording made by Merlin, watch." She soothed as she hit "replay" again. She paused the recording and walked to it and pointed at the pendant hanging from Merlin's neck. "This is the Sangraal isn't it?" She asked. Meurik simply replied nervously. "Yes Director. That is the Sangraal that Arthur and his Knights left to quest for so long ago." Ayiana shared a look with Daniel before resuming her questioning. "Do you know where Arthur and his Knights traveled to Meurik?" Meurik simply smiled like he thought they were idiots for not knowing the legend. "Of course Director, they went to three planets, Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei." Ayiana's eyes sparkled as she looked toward Daniel again. "You know where they are don't you?" Daniel asked.

"Of course I know where they are but I feel we should study them first." She thought for a minute before an idea hit her. "I have an idea." She said before running out of the door yelling for the Marines to wait and enjoy themselves. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I have to dial the gate and talk to General O'Neill." Daniel and the Marines shrugged and did as ordered. The Marines all gathered in the local tavern while Daniel went to pilphering through the old books in Merlin's library.

Fifteen minutes later Ayiana walked back into the library with a thoughtful look on her face. Daniel looked up from his reading as she entered. "Ok, so what are you thinking about? I can hear the wheels turning in that head of yours from here." Ayiana had gotten so used to the Tau'ri's use of strange phrases that she didn't even think about the question before answering.

"I had General O'Neill send a portable subspace booster through the gate and dispatch four of the new _Saber III's_. One will come here and set up a satellite with a subspace booster in the system. The other three will each go to the coordinates of the planets Meurik gave us the names of." Daniel looked a bit puzzled. "Why would you send a ship to the possible place the weapon is without you?" Ayiana laughed.

"Remember what I said at the briefing before we came here?" Daniel made a face as he thought. It didn't take long until his face lit up like a light bulb. "You said that Ganos hid Merlin in a cave on a planet that can't be accessed by ship! So if the three ships all find a planet then those planets aren't where Merlin is!" Ayiana gave Daniel a bright smile. "Give that man a cupee doll! He got it on the first try." Then Daniel's face got serious. "And if Merlin isn't on those planets then we're back to square one and the Charlie phase will be slaughtered by ascended Ori. And probably a lot of extremely pissed ascended Ori too since we kicked their ass here in the Milky Way."

Ayiana couldn't help but smile at how fast Daniel went from excited to depressed. "I have another theory if all three ships are able to reach a planet. I'll either have to gate back to either Earth or Avalon or wait for the ship to reach us and place the satellite." Daniel cheered up a bit after hearing she had another theory. "Since we are kind of on a time clock here, it would probably be best for you to gate back to either Earth or Avalon." Ayiana agreed and called for the rest of the team to meet them at the gate. Daniel started to protest that he wanted to stay. Ayiana got a mischievous smirk on her face. "Well ok, if you want to sit here digging through these dusty tombs instead of meeting the man that wrote them..." She deliberately trailed off. Daniels eyes lit like a kid seeing Santa Claus in person on Christmas morning. He was up and out the door before Ayiana could catch her breath.

Daniel stuck his head back in the door. "Well? What are you waiting on? Let's move! This could be the discovery of the millennium!" Ayiana laughed and turned back to Meurik. "Please have your people collect all of the treasure. It's yours; we have no need of it. We were here strictly for the knowledge held in this library. But please, for the sake of your entire village, place a guard you trust on this console and allow no one to touch it. It is a powerful device that could destroy all of your people if not used correctly. Once all of the treasure has been moved, lock the door and secure the key in a safe place. I would like to study this device in detail at a later date."

The village leader simply lowered his head in respect. "It will be as you say Director. I will ensure no one even goes near the device." With that he sent a couple of the town folk to bring two of the most trusted Soldiers in the town to him. Ayiana saw that Meurik himself would guard the device until the guards arrived. She was satisfied with that and left to meet the rest of her team at the gate.

**Avalon Starbase**

While Ayiana was waiting for the three ships to contact them when and if they reached their target planets, she prepared three automated probes and sent them through the gate to the same planets the ships were heading to. She wanted to see what the conditions of each planet were and if anyone still lived on any of them. The probes began sending back information that Ayiana did not find comforting. Castiana was a toxic world where life hadn't existed for thousands of years.

Sahal showed promise as the probe detected ruins it could tentatively date back roughly 40,000 years. Ayiana would wait to see if the scout ship could reach the planet before she made a decision on that one.

Vagonbrei looked like something out of one of the old horror shows from the 1950's that General O'Neill had foisted on her. The probe also detected a parasite that could be deadly to humans. She thought back to when she had first joined the SGC and thanked whatever gods there were that they had the Federation probes modified with Alteran sensors. The old M.A.L.P's that the SGC used to use would never have had the sensitivity to detect that parasite. She filed that away to wait for the arrival of the scout ship as well.

Thirty minutes later the first scout ship reported in from Sahal, they had arrived in orbit above the planet. Ayiana was a bit disappointed but had an idea. "Captain Lane, I sent a probe through the gate an hour ago. It is still mapping the planet and has discovered several ruins dating back at least 40,000 years. If you and your crew want to take some time and explore the ruins, I'll send you a file containing a recording of the object we are looking for."

She could hear the excitement in the Captain's voice when he answered back. "Yes Ma'am Director, we would be honored to explore the ruins and attempt to help you find your device. We'll scan for the probe and link it to our main computer. I'll contact you if we find anything, _Bat'leth_ out." She wrinkled her forehead thinking about the name of the ship then remembered that Bat'leth was a sword from the Klingon Empire of the Federation reality and General O'Neill had thought it a fitting tribute to name some of the ships in the UEC after things from that reality. Ayiana agreed one hundred percent.

The next two ships reported within ten minutes of the _Bat'leth_, both had reached their target planets. Ayiana radioed Daniel and asked him to meet her in the computer lab. Five minutes later Daniel strolled into the lab with his hands in his pockets. "So I take it this is plan B?" Ayiana smiled. "I would say it's more like plan D but close enough. All three ships reached a planet so none of those can be the planet Merlin is hidden on. So I got to thinking that there had to be something significant about those three planets to send Arthur and his Knights there." Daniel started to turn and leave. "I'll head back to Camelot and see if I can find a clue in the library."

Ayiana shook her head. "I don't think you'll find the clue there Daniel. There's only one person that knows what the significance is and she can't tell us. But she might have given me the clue I need, that's why I asked you to meet me here. I've already input the search parameters in the computer. It has something to do with three into one so I asked the computer to search for the number of addresses that the three planets addresses combined would make. I figure given the number of gates out there, it should find anywhere from ten to one-hundred and fifty addresses so this could take a while."

She turned to walk out with Daniel when the computer alerted them. "Search complete. One address found that matches search parameters." Both Ayiana and Daniel ran back into the room and at the same time said, "Show the address of the planet!" They both laughed as they heard each other say the same thing at the same time. When the address appeared on the screen, Ayiana hailed one of the two returning ships and directed them to the coordinates the computer had found.

Twenty minutes later Captain Morgan of the UEC _Katana_ contacted Avalon. "Director Ayiana, are you sure those are the right coordinates? We are at the coordinates you gave us but there is nothing here." Ayiana looked at Daniel who seemed as excited as she was. "Those are the correct coordinates Captain. Merlin is supposed to be hidden on a planet that is not accessible by ship and can only be reached by going through the gate. Thank you and return to base, you and your crew may have just helped to make this war winnable." Ayiana turned and went to brief General O'Neill.

Thirty minutes later, Ayiana, SG-1, and two full companies of Marines stood ready to enter the gate when it finished dialing. Every member of the expedition was armed with Federation phaser rifles and clad in the powered battle armor. The gate finished dialing and the classic whoosh subsided back into the event horizon. The Marines began moving through the gate and fanning out on the other side to set up a secure perimeter. Before Ayiana and SG-1 moved through the gate, General O'Neill keyed the intercom system. "Good luck on your search Director. SG-1, good luck and gods speed." Ayiana nodded and turned toward the gate while SG-1, to include Daniel and Teal'c, turned and saluted the General before following Ayiana.

Ayiana looked around the secure area on the other side of the gate before keying her throat mike. "Captain Rutledge, you and Alpha Company form up on me in five mikes. Captain Davidson, you and Bravo Company dig in and keep this gate secure. We'll check in every half hour. Every other check in, dial Avalon and we'll update them of our progress hourly." When both captains responded, Ayiana and SG-1 moved off from the gate to allow room for an entire company of Marines to form up in a staggered line formation on either side of the dirt path leading away from the gate.

Ayiana watched the live feed coming in from the probe on the side of her HUD while they made their way to the village. The probe was picking up powerful energy readings from lone mountain it was circling in the distance. Earlier the probe had detected a time distortion field not far from the village. As Ayiana and SG-1 approached the village, people stopped and stared at the column of armored "knights" coming from the direction of the Ring of Heroes. One villager approached the head of the column and addressed them. "Hail brave knights. Do you come in quest for the Sangraal?"

Ayiana smiled at his reference to knights until she realized the villagers wouldn't know the difference between the plate mail the knights of old wore and the modern powered battle armor the Marines wore. "Yes we have come in quest for the Sangraal." She answered. The villager smiled wide. "That is glorious. It has been many long years since anyone came to quest for the Sangraal. If you truly wish to begin your quest, you must visit the village library and consult the Parchment of Virtues."

In the village library they were confronted by the village Librarian, Osric, who asks them the question the villager that directed them to the library had asked. When Ayiana answers yes, he opens a dusty box and allows them to read the parchment. "It has been many centuries since someone has come in quest of the Sangraal. You will also need the map to the cave where Morgan Le Fey trapped Merlin." Ayiana smiles at the old Librarian.

"No Sir, we don't need the map. I have sent a probe though the Ring of Heroes earlier this morning and it has already detected the lone mountain under which the cave resides." Osric was a bit taken aback. "Then you too are a powerful sorceress as Morgan was. That will serve you well as it is said that the Sangraal is guarded by the most powerful of mythic creatures, a dragon!" Daniel starts to protest but one look from Ayiana stopped him cold. "I have my ways. I have also learned the location of the first test of prudence. Thank you for your help. We will be leaving soon to continue our quest." With that Ayiana led SG-1 toward the local tavern.

On the way she explains why she stopped Daniel from objecting to Osric's statement in the library. "Daniel, I too doubt it's really a live dragon. You saw the hologram of the Black Knight on Camelot. I am betting this is the same type of hologram that Ganos created. It will look like a real dragon and be just as deadly. We will need to be very careful when we reach the cave." Daniel nodded his understanding and they continued to the tavern.

She signaled for Captain Rutledge to join them. Once seated at a large table in the tavern, Ayiana details her plans to SG-1 and the Marine captain. "Captain Rutledge, for security, I would like you to have three platoons stay and secure the village. They can rotate through here to get a meal and relax for a little bit. Only send in one squad at a time and no alcohol until the mission is over and everyone is back home safely. I want one platoon to go with us so they should be first through in the rotation. It's thirty kilometers to the mountain so I want everyone well fed and hydrated before we roll out." Captain Rutledge acknowledged and radioed the platoon leader from first platoon and passed along the orders. A few minutes later the first squad rotated into the tavern to eat.

An hour later, Ayiana, SG-1, and the 1st platoon 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit moved out. At the edge of the forest, the expedition found the time dilation field the probe had detected. Ayiana looked around carefully with her evolved senses. "Ah ha," She said as she spotted what she was looking for. "I knew there had to be a power source somewhere and I see it but we have to cross through the dilation field to reach it. I can see the slight distortion of dust caught in the field. Everyone stay here until I'm through and deactivate the field." With that she set of carefully navigating her way through the first test. A couple of times she stopped to get her bearings as even with her highly evolved senses, she couldn't see some of the maze. She thought back over the virtues listed on the parchment. She looked around her feet and found some lose stones. She picked up a handful and gently tossed one in front of her. It stopped a few feet from her and just hung in midair. She repeated the stone toss until she made it through the field. She removed the ZPM powering the field and released the trapped people.

Eight hours later after successfully completing the next test of Charity and removed the ZPM powering that trap as well, the team arrived at the base of a lone mountain and entered the cave. Before entering, Ayiana radioed Captain Rutledge and told him to return to Avalon with his command and Bravo Company if he hadn't heard from her in six hours. He started to protest but Ayiana put a quick stop to that. "Captain, if you don't hear from me within six hours, that will mean we have already left the planet by then; if my theory is correct that is." Captain Rutledge acknowledged his orders begrudgingly. Daniel and Colonel Mitchell looked at her curiously.

"Would you care to fill us in on your theory?" Daniel asked. Ayiana smiled and began explaining. "The only way I know of to hide something this thoroughly and for this long would be to use an autodial Obelisk to dial the gate to a preset address and beam the cave and its contents to another planet randomly." Carter stepped up then.

"Wow, that's impressive. You mean you actually had the technology to do something like that?" Ayiana managed to refrain from laughing at Carter's almost childlike excitement. "Yes Sam we did, that and much, much more." The expedition team continued to progress through the varied tests from the parchment. Ayiana had no problem passing any of the tests as she knew the way her friend thought. The final test was indeed a large holographic dragon and again since Ayiana knew how her friend thought, she passed that test as well by uttering two words. "Ganos Lal…."

She sent the Marine platoon back to the village with orders for everyone to return home. She promised she would keep in contact via the subspace signal booster Teal'c was carrying in his pack. Ayiana then gathered SG-1 around her at the pedestal that held the Sangraal (or as Ayiana saw, the holographic Sangraal).

When Ayiana touched the holographic stone, a transport beam shot from the ceiling and with a flash, all six of SG-1 and Ayiana, appeared in a cave. After they recovered and got their bearings, Ayiana sent Teal'c and Colonel Mitchell out to see if her theory was right. Daniel called to her from the other side of the cave. When she rounded a large column containing an Alteran interface, she saw what had excited Daniel. There embedded into the wall was an Alteran stasis chamber that contained the one and only, Merlin.

Ayiana deactivated the stasis chamber and helped Daniel catch Merlin as he fell from the chamber. Merlin was clearly disoriented and confused. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of Ayiana and she could see the confused and curious look in them. "Hello High Councilor Moros, it's been a long time since I last saw you." Comprehension dawned on the aged council member. "Ayiana, what are you doing here? Where is Ganos?" Ayiana smiled. "Ganos has ascended Councilor and I am here to get the Sangraal to use against the Ori."

Merlin's eyes flew wide as he heard the name of the Ori. "I'll get right to work building a new one." Ayiana firmly pressed him back down onto the stone bed he was lying on. "Oh no you don't, not yet anyway. You've been in stasis for nearly one thousand years. You are still too weak to work on anything." Merlin began to protest. "Nonsense, I may have slept longer than I intended to but I am perfectly fine." She picked up the portable hand scanner and the probe for it and ran the probe up and down over his body. "No you are not perfectly fine. You are severely dehydrated and malnourished. Lie still and I'll heal you then we'll get some food and water in you."

Thirty minutes later, Ayiana was lying on the stone bed and Merlin was feeling better than he had even before he went into stasis, he even looked younger as his beard was no longer streaked in gray. Healing his degraded body had taken a lot out of Ayiana but it was nothing that rest and nutrition wouldn't fix. Daniel had watched in fascination as Merlin had begun creating the Sangraal from base molecules. There was a brief sensation of disorientation and Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c radioed in that they were now on a different planet.

Merlin showed Colonel Carter how to deactivate the dialing obelisk and how to dial out to any address she wanted. She dialed Avalon and gave a brief report on the progress they had made. Merlin finished building the Sangraal but did not activate it. "I will now disable the scrambler field that kept the planet hidden from ships." He looked at Daniel. "We can carry the Sangraal to your base and then take a ship to the Ori galaxy, or a ship can meet us here now that the planet can be accessed by ship." Daniel radioed Avalon and the _Katana _jumped to hyperspace for the coordinates that Merlin had supplied to them.

An hour later, SG-1, Ayiana, and Merlin were aboard the _Katana_ traveling through hyperspace to the supergate to the Ori galaxy. Merlin was impressed that the Tau'ri had advanced so far in such a short time. Ayiana was still sleeping so Daniel provided a computer terminal for Merlin to catch up on what had happened since he went into stasis. They arrived at the supergate just as Ayiana was waking up. She showered, dressed, and headed for the bridge as she felt the powerful little scout ship drop out of hyperspace. The fleet for Phase Charlie had already gone through the gate several hours earlier.

She had just entered the bridge when she heard the Captain order the gate shut down and to dial the Ori galaxy. Merlin looked up at her and smiled. "Ayiana, you haven't aged a bit since I saw you last. Daniel told me how you were frozen in your stasis chamber at the outpost. I am so sorry you were trapped like that for so long. If I had known, I would have revived you when we returned from Atlantis." Ayiana smiled at him. "It's ok Moros (Merlin), everything happens when it is supposed to. As the humans say, "Everything happens the way it does for a reason. We may never know what that reason is but there is a reason none the less."

Moros contemplated on that for awhile. "I never expected the human race to mature as quickly as they have. They are really coming into their own aren't they?" Ayiana smiled and reflected on all that had happened since her rescue. "They have become the Fifth Race old friend. They have succeeded where we ourselves failed. They defeated the Wraith, the Goa'uld, the Asurans, the Replicators that threatened to destroy the Asgard, and their spirit and drive have the Ori on the verge of defeat as well. Granted, I'm not sure they would have been as successful without the help of the Asgard but they have accomplished much on their own." With that he inserted the activation crystal into the Sangraal and the _Katana_ slipped through the gate and into the Ori galaxy.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter will finish up the Ori story arc and have a lot more action. I know finding Merlin the way I portrayed it wasn't canon but this is an AU from the start. I tried to keep it close with my story arc though. Now we'll see how it goes with Adria defeated and a healthy Merlin in the story now. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Ori Home Galaxy**

**UEC **_**Katana**_

As soon as the _Katana_ finished transitioning through the gate and into the Ori home galaxy, Captain Morgan spoke up. "Helm, maintain position plus five thousand meters." With that the _Katana_ rose straight up five thousand meters above the supergate as the rest of the attack fleet came through as well and spread out to either side of the gate. Just before the third ship fully passed through the event horizon, two things happened. The first thing to happen was the Sangraal detonated and sent a massive pulse of deadly energy into the dimension that ascended beings occupy. The second was newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Marks, on board the _Avenger_,detected inbound ships. "General, Colonel? I'm detecting four Ori ships on an intercept course. They will get here before the entire taskforce has made it through the gate."

General O'Neill sighed. "We just can't get a break can we? Open a channel to Thor then give me fleet wide." Thor had agreed to wait and be the last ship through the gate and into the Ori Galaxy. After he warned Thor, O'Neill started barking orders to the fleet. "This is General O'Neill to Charlie Attack Fleet. We have detected incoming Ori warships, four of them to be exact. They will be here before the full fleet makes it through the gate."

He paused and as he did the other _Well of Urd_ class dreadnaught (_Yggdrasil_) cleared the event horizon. "The _Avenger _and the _Yggdrasil_ will move up the center. I want three ships to flank us on either side and slightly ahead of us. Lt. Colonel Marks is forwarding the probable exit coordinates now. Concentrate your fire on one ship. Captain Kawalsky, you and your group take the ship to the outside. We will take the next ship in line. The _Yggdrasil_ will take the next and so on. Don't wait for me to give the order to fire. Good luck and good hunting, O'Neill out."

Thirty seconds later, the four Ori ships tore open the fabric of space and exited hyperspace at the exact coordinates predicted by Lt. Colonel Marks. The spinal mounted ion and plasma cannons of the eight ships slammed into the four Ori ships. The Ori didn't stand a chance as each ship in the UEC taskforce fired sustained ion or plasma beams that speared the toilet bowl shaped ships on their frontal shields. As it was a sustained beam, the Ori shields flared brightly and wavered before collapsing under the combined assault. The beams tore through the main weapons dish of the Ori and continued to bore through the hull and superstructure of the ship until they breached the power core of the ship. Each of the four powerful Ori ships were expanding mini-suns in mere seconds.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Colonel Mitchell yelled as the explosions of the Ori ships faded away. "Hell General, with ships like these, we may win this war after all." General O'Neill was about to respond when they were hailed by the _Katana_. He nodded to put in on the main screen. "What can I do for you Director?" He said as he saw Ayiana's face on the screen. "General, we have a slight problem but he swears he'll be alright and that he just needs to rest." O'Neill looked a bit confused. "Who says they just need to rest? What happened Ayiana?"

With that the screen panned back to a scene of Merlin being carried to the turbo lift on a medical gurney. "Well Sir, when the Sangraal detonated, it knocked both Merlin and me out. I came to rather quickly and I was actually only very disoriented. Merlin took it much worse and I can only theorize that it hit him so hard because he was once ascended and still kept most of the powers he had when he was ascended. He swears he is alright but I would like to request he be beamed over to your taskforce." O'Neill was still confused. "Ayiana, you have the same medical technology on the _Katana_ as we have here. Why would you need to beam him to another ship?"

Ayiana looked at him and he felt she was looking straight through him and at his very soul. "There is something very important I have to do so as soon as the taskforce is finished with the gate, I will shut it off and dial out to a different place. I will need the _Katana_ for the foreseeable future. Merlin is better suited to help you with the Arc anyway. He is a better scientist and inventor than I am by far." O'Neill sat quietly watching the other ships clear the gate. "And what pray tell is this important mission you need one of my ships for?" He asked as he saw Thor exit the gate in his massive dreadnaught.

Ayiana paused for a little bit thinking as the gate shut down. "I need to find the _Destiny_ and bring not only it home but track down and repair the seed ships if needed." Jack was actually left speechless for a change. "Well ok, if that's what you feel you need to do." Ayiana smiled.

"I guess I don't actually need the _Katana_ General. If you need it for this mission, I can take a shuttle back through the gate once it's dialed. I just needed a ride back to Avalon. I need to gate to Asuras for one of the Deep Space Exploration Cruisers anyway. The _Katana_ while it is fast enough, it is not big enough. I'll need at least the Cruiser with an industrial size replicator. I want to build a supergate in whichever galaxy I track the _Destiny_ to." O'Neill was confused again but before he could ask the question Ayiana answered.

"I know you are wondering why I want to build a supergate there. Think about it General. The _Destiny_ has been traveling at faster than light speeds for over one million years. How would I bring it home in anyone's lifetime without a supergate?" Jack felt a bit foolish. "Ok, that makes sense. Ok, you have a go but I would prefer it if you took a shuttle. I may need the _Katana_ as an advanced scout to help pinpoint convoys and military targets here." Ayiana thought for a few seconds. "Ok General, I'll take a shuttle through. But also to help you out here, I'll check on the progress of the upgrades Atlantis and Asuras are doing on the _Phantom _and _Shadow II_. If either ship is finished, I'll send them here since stealth recon is what they were built for."

O'Neill had forgotten about his recon cruisers in all the mess with the Ori. "Wow, I need a vacation. I can't believe I forgot about the recon cruisers. Thank you Ayiana both would be preferred but either will be greatly appreciated and put to very good use. Also, I think it would help the mission if you can send a Marine assault ship as well. We will probably need it to hold the planet long enough to find the Arc, O'Neill out."

It didn't take long for Ayiana to get into a shuttle. The _Katana_ dialed back to the Milky Way for the shuttle to go back through. Back in the Milky Way, Ayiana was a bit surprised at the sight that greeted her. There were several heavy construction ships working around the supergate. Her companel began to beep with an incoming hail. "Director, this is General Landry, dock the shuttle with the _Rapier_, she'll take you back to Avalon to dial Asuras." With that a _Saber III_ decloaked near the gate.

Ayiana was curious though about what all the traffic around the gate were. "Understood General, I'll dock with the _Rapier_. One question though Sir." She heard Landry laugh. "You're curious about what's going on. That's understandable. I had moved the construction ships here just after the Katana went through the gate and we will be sending more through the gate to build a starbase to be used as a way point station. Once this war is over, we plan on building a supergate in all the galaxies we are in contact with. We'll then use them for transporting cargo and trade goods between galaxies easier and they will provide a defensive presence for patrol ships to guard the trade convoys."

Ayiana smiled. "That's a wonderful idea General. It's something my people never tried. We were to selfish with our technology and it cost us. By the way, I plan on building a supergate in the Pegasus galaxy immediately upon arrival." She moved the shuttle closer to the shuttle bay on the _Rapier_.

"Well this won't be for trading technology, at least not military technology. It will be for different trade goods and humanitarian relief and such. The UEC wants to start colonizing other planets and even though we have plenty of viable planets here in the Milky Way, it has been decided to spread to other galaxies to avoid all of our eggs being kept in one basket. If the basket is dropped, all the eggs break and we have no more eggs. With colonies in other galaxies, we have the population base to keep the human race from being wiped out completely. Each station will be supplemented by pulse phaser, torpedo turrets, and the new design of the LGPS."

A flash of light in the shuttle announced the arrival of an ascended being. Ayiana didn't turn to look as she could feel it was Ganos which was confirmed seconds later. "I see why you are so enamored with these humans. They are obviously an interesting race. Trade routes like this are something we never even considered. I am curious about one thing though. Why would they leave this gate here and use millions of tons of resources to protect it instead of destroying this gate and building another near Earth?"

Ayiana shrugged her shoulders. "If they built one near Earth, it would put a potentially dangerous enemy right on their doorstep. This way if someone hostile does come through the gate, they can slow them down here or possibly completely destroy them. That delay, if they can't stop them here, gives them time to route ships for a proper defense at Earth or any other critical system."

Ganos looked at the construction thoughtfully. "You are right about the humans having vast potential. They have thought of things we never would have even considered. They may one day surpass even us as ascended." Ayiana smiled at her friend.

"I believe they already have surpassed us my friend. Not technologically but they are close. Granted most of their advanced technology comes from us, the Asgards, or other more advanced humans. But they have the will and the strategic mind set to integrate all of that into truly creative uses. I believe their greatest asset is the ability to build communities of completely diverse species and make it work to their advantage. We as a people, the Asgard, and Nox included, never did that. We always isolated ourselves from the other races and only dealt with them on a controlled and need to basis. The Furlings were the only race of the original Four Great Races to have done anything similar."

She figured now was as good a time as any to ask Ganos what she knew about the Furlings. "I noticed you hesitated and changed the subject quickly the last time the Furlings were mentioned. What happened to them and where are they?" Ganos fidgeted uncomfortably which caused Ayiana to burst out laughing so hard she had tears running down her face. "Oh my! It isn't everyday that one sees an ascended being squirm like a school boy seeing his first crush." Ganos shot her a look that would have literally wilted roses.

"Alright, I'll tell you this much. The Furlings as you know are not even from this area of the universe. It is unclear if they are from a different reality altogether or just from very far away in this universe. It is strange but even the collection of different ascended beings, to include several Furlings, cannot see into their origins. Whether the ascended Furlings can and are hiding it from the rest of us is equally unclear. What I can say is there are still a few around but they are in a deep hibernation similar to our stasis but far more efficient."

That gave Ayiana something to think about as she completed docking the shuttle inside the shuttlebay of the _Rapier_. "Ok, then, I won't press anymore. That is interesting though that someone is blocking the powers of an ascended being. Well my friend, I have enjoyed chatting with you. If you would like, you can meet me in Asuras in a day or so while I prepare a recovery mission for the _Destiny_." Ganos frowned.

"That is one of the greatest regrets of my life before I ascended. It would have been simply amazing to actually be on that ship as it traveled into the unknown. Exploring the universe first hand would have been so much more interesting than ascension. When I ascended I learned a great deal of the discoveries I would have while on _Destiny_ it just wasn't as satisfying as it would have been learning it in person. It seems kind of like cheating to have the knowledge virtually handed to you upon ascension. I'll take my leave now but will be watching so in a way I can experience the joy of discovery through you." She smiled as she shifted back into a glowing being of light and exited the shuttle.

Once Ayiana have finished docking procedures, the _Rapier_ turned and jumped into hyperspace in route to Avalon. Ayiana made her way to the bridge. As she walked through the corridors of the small but powerful scout ship, she mused at how perfect this small ship was for its mission. It was the perfect platform for transporting dignitaries or patrol of the Milky Way and the Pegasus.

The ship was small at just under two-hundred meters long, carried a relatively small crew of forty with an additional eleven man Marine squad, and was extremely fast to build. Since the UEC had upgraded most of its shipyards to use the automation of Asgard matter converters and the ability of Federation industrial replicators that can use any type of raw material, a _Saber III_ class ship could be built in just over two weeks. With the addition of the AZPM station that held three AZPMs, it had the power to defend itself against anything short of an Ori mothership or a Wraith hive. Of course if the hive was a normal hive without upgrades, the _Saber III_ class could more than hold its own.

Granted the _Defiant III's_ were tougher but that was a ship strictly meant for war and was not very well suited for long range patrols not comfortable enough for dignitary transport. It was however a perfect ship for convoy escort, wolfpack attacks, or system defense. Several would also be part of assault fleets designed for convoy harassment or fleet assaults. Ayiana beamed down from the _Rapier _several hours later and stepped though the gate to Asuras to finish her preparations to track down the _Destiny_.

**Attack Fleet**

**Ori Home Galaxy**

The separate attack wings of the assault fleet, codenamed Charlie Fleet, broke up into their designated wings and proceeded on their assigned missions. Ayiana had made contact from Asuras to inform General O'Neill that both stealth cruisers were complete and would be sent through the supergate as soon as the supergate in the Pegasus galaxy was complete. They were building it in a remote part of the Pegasus galaxy the same way as the Ori had built the gate in the Milky Way. Ayiana assured them that it wouldn't take more than a couple of hours to complete as they were using an existing black hole instead of crushing a planet to create an artificial singularity. One attack wing stayed to guard the gate and the construction ships until the defenses were strong enough to protect the vulnerable construction ships themselves.

The _Katana_ had cloaked and warped out of the system and relayed target information for several convoys and planets where more Ori warships were being built. Three of the four ship attack wings were in route to separate targets while General O'Neill and his wing headed for Celestis. Merlin had been right and had just needed rest and food. Lots of food it turned out and Merlin was very impressed and grateful for the Federation replicators installed now on all UEC ships. He was completely recovered by the time the _Avenger_ and its small taskforce approached Celestis.

General O'Neill looked up as Merlin strolled onto the bridge. "I'm glad to see you finally decided to join us." Jack said sarcastically. Merlin narrowed his eyes at the general and then remembered what Ayiana had explained to him about the sarcasm of the human race. So he let this one slide. "I underestimated the effect the Sangraal would have on me since I was previously an ascended being. Besides, I think I came through remarkably well for a man that is several tens of thousands of years old. And to another point, I still look better than you."

O'Neill was rendered nearly speechless and couldn't help but to crack up laughing. "I see you learn quickly. I'll have to remember that when I get sarcastic around you in the future." He said as he continued to laugh. He calmed down when Lt. Colonel Marks spoke up. "We're approaching Celestis. I'm detecting at least fifteen ships in orbit and possible orbital defense platforms. I can't be sure as they have detected our approach and are using heavy jamming in system." Merlin immediately became all business and moved to one of the side consoles. A few minutes of work later and the Alteran had boosted the sensors enough to cut through the jamming.

Lt. Colonel Marks looked up at the older man still dressed in his wizard robes. "Thank you, confirmed Sir, fifteen Ori warships, four orbital defense platforms, and several ground to orbit cannons. It looks like they saw how effective our defenses were and modeled some of their own after our designs." Merlin turned to General O'Neill. "If I could General, I'd like to make a suggestion. I've seen the sensor logs of your battle with the Ori both around Earth and after you entered this galaxy. I would suggest dropping out of hyperspace at the far edge of the Celestis system and make the ships come to you. I believe it would significantly increase our survival chances to prevent them from having the platforms and orbital cannons be able to back up the ships."

O'Neill grinned. "I was thinking the exact same thing Merlin, Moros, whatever you're name really is." Moros smiled slightly. "I believe I will return to Moros, High Councilor of the Alteran council." O'Neill simply shook his head. "Do it Mr. Marks, let's show these bastards they messed with the wrong people."

The task force dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Celestis system and with a large gas giant between them and the Ori ships. "Launch hyperspace disruptors now, make their ships come to us on sublight. Signal the taskforce to spread out so we get some room to maneuver. Launch fighters and tell them to advance and harass or destroy as many ships as they can if they can." With that the new _Vampire _class starfighters dropped from the launch bays of the two UEC ships. The Asgard didn't use fighters on their ships as they had never seen they need for small one man ships. They were about to see something that might change their minds on the subject.

The _Vampire_ was a new design based off of not only several types of fighters from science fiction movies or shows but captured Wraith, Ori, and Goa'uld fighters. The design looked like a cross between the X-wing fighter from Star Wars and the Thunderbolt Starfury from Babylon 5 but used the original _Defiant _class pulse phasers. Ayiana and her team had designed the fighter from the ground up. It had four pulse cannons mounted on the sides of the x shaped sublight engines. There were two torpedo tubes on either side of the nose that fired the new modified quantum/Alteran drones. There were also hard points on the underside of the fuselage and engine supports that could mount missiles or recon drones.

The _Vampire_ was also equipped with extendable warp nacelles that folded out from the belly of the fuselage making the fighter capable of interstellar travel at a maximum speed of warp eight. Granted it was slower than hyperspace but the warp drive made it easy to warp quickly inside of a star system for defense or to approach a target under cloak. If the fighters needed to travel to another star system quickly, they would stay on their parent ships. The entire fighter was powered by either a micro ZPM or in special circumstances an AZPM. Each fighter was also equipped with a cloaking device from the Alteran jumpers and a shield as well. All in all it was a very maneuverable and deadly fighter.

As the _Avenger_ and the _Vanquisher_ were not carriers, they only contained eight and sixteen fighters respectively. The dedicated deep space carriers that were being built on Asuras and now Earth could carry six full fighter squadrons consisting of twelve fighters per squadron with various support craft. O'Neill watched as the twenty-four fighters accelerated away from his four ship wing and closed with the Ori fighters that had been launched as well. His fighters were outnumbered over 300 to 1 as each Ori warship carried around five-hundred fighters, this would be a true test of the new space superiority fighter. The two Asgard dreadnaughts accelerated forward as well to assist the UEC fighters if needed.

"Viper lead to all UEC fighters, we are outnumbered 300 to 1 so stay with your wingman and keep an eye on your shield strength. This could get ugly real fast so stay alert and watch each other's backs. Good luck and good hunting." Colonel Mitchell said as he checked over his instruments.

O'Neill and Moros stood on the bridge watching the ensuing chaos as over 7,500 Ori fighters swarmed their twenty-four _Vampires_. Moros was totally astonished that the General would order his pilots to their deaths so casually. After the first ten minutes of the one sided dogfight, he was ready to change his opinion. There were so many Ori fighters in the area, so any direction an UEC fighter shot its pulse phaser cannons, resulted in a destroyed Ori fighter. The Ori fighters had a rudimentary shield that would have been effective against a Goa'uld Deathglider but did not pose a challenge to the Federation pulse cannon powered by the micro ZPM. The eight fighters of Colonel Mitchell's wing however were powered by an AZPM so their cannons packed a heavier punch and their shields were much stronger.

Colonel Mitchell noticed some of the fighters from the _Vanquisher_ wings were getting close to their shields failing from the sheer number of Ori fighters arrayed against them. "Viper lead to Cobra lead; several of your fighters are on the verge of losing shields. Have them jump to warp to a point outside the system to let their shield recharge. Once their shields are back to full strength they can warp back in and rejoin the fight." He watched as several of the fighters turned and stretched visibly before disappearing into warp. Mitchell continued to pitch and roll while firing his pulse phasers at any Ori fighter unlucky enough to track across his firing arc.

The battle continued to rage as the Ori motherships began to close the distance between themselves and the twisting ball of chaos that was the ugly dogfight of UEC and Ori fighters. After the UEC fighters began using the tactic of warping out, recharging their shields, and warping back, the Ori fighters began tightening their formations.

This tighter formation was too close to the _Vampires_ to allow them to jump to warp and several UEC fighters had been destroyed as a result. By the time the UEC began losing fighters, over half of the Ori fighters had been destroyed. Colonel Mitchell hadn't lost any fighters from his wing yet as the AZPMs were providing vast amounts of power to not only their shields but their weapons as well. None of the fighters from the _Avenger_ had needed to warp out and none of their shields had even dropped below eighty percent.

As more and more Ori fighters vanished in spreading balls of fire, the Ori motherships entered weapons range. Their main weapons opened fire on the still large snarl of fighters. Several of the Ori fighters were destroyed but more _Vampires_ disappeared as well. General O'Neill's fighters were down to seven for the _Avenger_ and six from the_ Vanquisher_. But over 6,500 Ori fighters had been wiped from existence.

"Colonel Mitchell, get your fighters out of there. You've done enough now the Asgard will handle the rest of the fighters as we take the fight to the motherships." Moros was totally shocked into silence at the effectiveness of the new UEC fighter. These humans, with Ayiana's help that is, had come up with a truly deadly fighter. He doubted an Alteran gateship or puddle jumper as the Tau'ri called it, would last longer than a few seconds against one.

As Colonel Mitchell and the surviving _Vampires_ broke free of the remaining Ori fighters and jumped to warp, the two Asgard dreadnaughts surged forward with the GEF (Gatling Effect Fire) ion and phase cannons blazing. The Ori fighters had regrouped and were surging forward as well to harass the four capital ships attacking Celestis. As the Asgard ships closed with the fighters, the withering fire coming from them began to erase the Ori fighters from space. As the fighters realized the error of charging the Asgard ships, beams of white light joined the CIWS anti-fighter/anti-missile fire. Before the Asgard main guns opened fire on the Ori motherships, every Ori fighter had ceased to exist.

The four capital ships opened fire at the approaching Ori motherships. Alteran pulse cannons and Asgard plasma beams streaked toward the Ori. The two Asgard dreadnaughts had divided the fire of their four main guns to fire at four of the Ori ships (two per ship). Two coherent plasma beams converged to overpower the Ori shields. Fifteen Ori ships were quickly down to eleven with the Asgards first salvo. On the heels of the Asgards shots, the UEC ships fired their four main cannons at only one Ori ship each. Two more Ori ships turned into expanding fireballs dropping the number of Ori motherships to nine.

The Ori realized a head on confrontation with these four ships would be fatal so they tried to surround and isolate one ship at a time. The remaining nine ships returned fire and moved to surround the closest ship to them which happened to be the _Well of Urd_. Thor smiled wickedly as he allowed his ship to be completely enveloped by the Ori. He waited a few seconds as his ship shook from the Ori weapons fire but his shields held.

The hum of the three Arcturus reactors grew almost to a point it was uncomfortable to Thor's new hearing as they built power. With an evil laugh that would send chills down the bravest warrior's spine, Thor fired every weapon on the ship. The secondary ion turrets fired broadside into any Ori ship close enough and they were backed by the CIWS pulse cannons. The forward spinal mounted plasma cannon again targeted two Ori motherships. The effect was devastating to the Ori. Three ships to either side of the _Well of Urd_ lost shields and took heavy damage from the CIWS and secondary ion turrets. The two ships in front of the ship simply exploded from their power cores being breached by the plasma beams.

O'Neill sat stunned by the firepower of his friend's dreadnaught. "Holy crap that's impressive. Open fire on those damaged ships. Don't give them a chance to recover or escape!" He ordered as the _Well of Urd_ surged forward away from the drifting ships and turned to pursue the remaining Ori ship that was trying to flee. Thor was hammering away at its shields with his secondary weapons because the Prior flying that ship was wisely avoiding getting in front of the Asgard death machine.

As O'Neill feared the ship was about to escape into hyperspace as it had managed to open a window to that realm since several hyperspace disruptors had been destroyed, the _Katana_ decloaked behind and above the fleeing ship. The _Katana_ opened fire with everything it had. The Ori ship twisted sideways as pulse phasers, quantum torpedoes, and phaser beams from the multi-directional emitters slammed into its already weakened shield. The hyperspace window collapsed as a quantum torpedo breached the singularity core and the Ori ship was turned into an expanding ball of fire and debris.

Moros looked to General O'Neill. "As you humans say, "Color me impressed." That was a truly frightening display of firepower not only from the Asgard but from your ships as well. That little ship that stopped the Ori ship from escaping is a lot tougher than I would have thought when I was on her earlier." O'Neill smiled before getting serious. "I know what you mean Moros. But believe me, that little ship wasn't invented by us. It was invented by humans, just not from here. But it is a lot more powerful now that we have integrated Alteran and Asgard technology into its systems."

"Alright, let's take out the orbital defense platforms, the ground to orbit cannons, and find that Arc. Colonel Mitchell, is your wing rearmed and ready for planetary assault?" He waited a few seconds. "Yes Sir, we are ready to go kick some more Ori butt!" O'Neill shook his head. "Easy Colonel, we haven't won yet. You are cleared for launch. They haven't broken through the jamming yet so they shouldn't see you launch but the closer you get to the planet, the greater the chance they'll spot you. Keep behind the capital ships until we have taken out the platforms in orbit before making your approach to the planet."

He felt a slight tremor as the fighter wing was ejected from the ship. "Roger Sir, we'll follow you in, Mitchell out." The wing was back up to a full eight as O'Neill was a firm believer in backups and had enough pilots on the ship to man double the fighters the ship carried. With the two Asgard dreadnaughts present, it had only taken a few minutes for their onboard matter converters to construct a new _Vampire_ to replace the one his ship had lost in the initial engagement over Celestis.

The four orbital platforms were easy pickings for the capital ships General O'Neill had with him. After the last one succumbed to the combined fire of four dreadnaught class ships, Colonel Mitchell and the eight cloaked _Vampires_ of Viper flight entered the planet's atmosphere.

Aware that the Ori might detect the atmospheric disturbance his fighters created, Mitchell had the flight disbursed just in case. O'Neill had thought of that too. "Mitchell, have your planes stick close to the _Avenger _and the _Vanquisher_. We are going to enter the atmosphere ahead of you and target a few cannons ourselves. That should cover any disturbance your fighters make while entering the atmosphere and leave you free to take out the rest of the orbital defenses." Again Moros was impressed by the ingenuity of the humans.

As the two UEC ships broke the outer atmosphere, several of the ground to orbit cannons opened fired. The shields were at one-hundred percent until they made contact with the outer layer of the atmosphere. After that contact they were down to eighty percent and as the first beams slammed into them, they dropped even further. But as the shield strength dropped, the Alteran pulse cannon turrets returned fire destroying several cannon while others survived since they were protected by a shield.

O'Neill launched a stream of drones that took out even more cannons before ordering Lt. Colonel Marks to pull up and get out of the range of the cannons. Sparks flew from several consoles as more Ori beams slammed into the ship. But the distraction had worked and Colonel Mitchell's _Vampires _launched their new drone torpedoes on the shielded cannons. With the AZPMs powering their fighters, they could remain cloaked and still fire the drone/torpedoes. Colonel Mitchell wasn't sure if he could fire the pulse phasers while cloaked but he was determined to find out.

As his wing passed over several destroyed cannons, he spotted another group of cannons protected by a shield. "Viper lead to Viper flight, form a strafing line on me and prepare for another run. We're going to see if we can fire our pulse phasers while cloaked too." With the HUD installed into their fighters, even cloaked they could see where each member of the wing was so they could avoid running into each other. As the eight fighters lined up one behind the other, Colonel Mitchell targeted the shield generator while he designated a separate target for each of his wing.

As he closed on his target, Mitchell squeezed the trigger on the joystick that controlled his fighter. Powerful pulse cannon blasts poured from his cannons and flared the shield brightly. He realized almost instantly he had made a bad mistake as several of the cannons turned toward him and opened fire.

"Break Break Break!" He yelled into his mike as he pulled on his stick hard and released the trigger. The flight of _Vampires_ scattered in all directions to avoid the incoming enemy fire. Mitchell's fighter avoided the worst of the Ori beams but was still clipped and knocked spinning. While the shield was powerful enough to hold up to fire designed to destroy a capital ship in orbit, the fighter itself didn't have enough mass to keep from being thrown around like a leaf on the wind. Even with the powerful inertial dampeners, Mitchell was getting dizzy from the tumbling fighter.

The only thing that saved him was the blast forced him higher into the air so he had time to recover from the spin before he crashed into the ground. Mitchell managed to point the nose to the stars and straighten out. "Oh boy, that was a bad idea. Ok Viper Two, you'll have to take the lead until the world stops spinning around me. Don't use the pulse phasers until you drop the shield with torpedoes and destroy the cannon with your initial burst. Their computers are fast enough to track and calculate our position even while cloaked by tracking our phasers." He heard his second in command trying to hide his laughter now that he knew his leader was not hurt. "Roger Viper Lead, we'll drop the shield with torpedoes then target the guns."

One and a half hours later, the taskforce had achieved complete air and orbital superiority. That was reinforced even more when the Marine Assault ship _Iwo Jima_ arrived in orbit along with two _Armitage_ class battle carriers and the four ships that had been guarding the supergate. General O'Neill started to hail the lead ship when a hail came in from Ayiana.

He blinked then told Lt. Colonel Marks to put in on the main screen. "Ayiana, what are you doing?" Ayiana laughed. "I told you it wouldn't take long to build the supergate here in Pegasus. Narim had a little surprise waiting when I got here. He had increased the number of shipyards and had several new ships built including the two flight III battle carriers I sent and two more _Vanquisher_ class dreadnaughts. I sent the carriers to you and the dreadnaughts to guard the gate until the construction ships are finished. Also both stealth cruisers were completed so I sent them through as well."

Moros looked at O'Neill. "Narim? I don't know him. Who is he?" Ayiana was the one that answered though. "Moros, Narim is from a human off-shoot called the Tollan. They are allied with Earth in the UEC. Several of their people are scattered throughout the UEC as members of planetary expeditions or crew members on many of our ships." Moros' face lit up. "The Tollan? They survived? Back around the peak of the Mayan Empire, oh around 300 AD in your time reckoning, a large group of the Mayan were taken to another world by a race known as the Omeyocans. I had no idea they would survive and prosper. But I should have suspected they would, knowing the Omeyocans. It serves me right for sleeping so long."

Jack looked at the ancient Alteran then turned back to the screen. "Thank you Ayiana and thank Narim for me too. Also let him know that we have someone here that would probably like a chance to sit down with him and talk history besides Daniel." He smirked at Moros who just huffed like he was annoyed. To further add to the annoyed persona, Moros decided to beam down and help with the search. "I better beam down and help the search team. If a Prior shows up, they'll need some backup." Jack thought that was a good idea and let him go.

**Unknown Star System**

**Ori convoy**

The four UEC dreadnaughts of attack wing Alpha dropped out of hyperspace right in the middle of a convoy of twenty ships. The supply ships scattered to try and avoid the ambush. Two Ori warships were guarding the convoy and they surged toward the interlopers that would dare to attack a convoy protected by followers of the Ori. Two dreadnaughts moved forward to meet the Ori motherships while the other two moved to take out the convoy.

The Priors onboard the warships knew of the power of the UEC but they didn't think that just four ships could threaten two Ori warships. They learned the hard way as Alteran pulse cannon and Alteran drones tore into their shields. The shields of the Ori warships flared brightly before the drones passed through them and pierced the singularity at the center of the ship. Both warships turned into mini suns as the four dreadnaughts turned on the remaining ships in the convoy leaving nothing but charred wreckage in their wake.

Over the next few weeks, all across Ori controlled space, this scene repeated itself over and over again. The stealth cruisers and the _Katana_ would find convoys and relay their coordinates to the attack wings which would then swoop in and leave nothing alive when they finished. Shipyards and actual supply depots suffered merciless attacks as well.

The Ori had come to the Milky Way to defeat and subjugate the people there in a bid to finally destroy their hated enemies, the Ancients. Little did they know that as the Japanese had done to America in 1941, the Ori had awakened a sleeping giant…... The only difference this time was this sleeping giant had much more powerful allies and weapons this time. It was not a pretty sight once the sleeping giant had been poked. As more ships came online from the UEC shipyards, more ships were sent through the supergate. The waystation starbases and defensive turrets were now complete on both sides of the supergate. More ships and more troops poured through the gate from the Milky Way on a daily basis. The UEC and their allies had come to win, whether they found the Arc or not, they were here to end the control, oppression, and threat of the Ori.

Moros was able to witness firsthand the sheer determination, ferocity, and tenacity of the human race. He also was able to witness the compassion the human race contained as well. Planets that were subjugated by the Ori and their Priors were freed and provided humanitarian aid. Garrisons were built on planets to protect the people from reprisal from hardcore Ori followers. Schools were built as well to help educate the people that the Ori had tried to keep ignorant and subservient. But no schools or protective garrisons were built until the Ori Armies were destroyed or the Arc of Truth was found in the ruins above the Plains of Celestis.

The battle for complete control of Celestis was not easy. Ayiana and Moros had been right when they said that the followers of the Ori would not give up Celestis easily even with the Ori themselves destroyed by the Sangraal. It had been a bloody and bitter fight, one that without Moros, the Asgard, and several Lantean volunteers, the UEC would have had a much harder time winning. The normal followers of the Ori had posed no problem for UEC Marines in battle armor to defeat. The Priors were a different story. It took an orbital strike or one of the original Four Great Races to defeat a Prior (the Lanteans were close enough to Alterans to have a lot of the same powers).

The UEC had moved to surround the "City of the Gods" on the plains of Celestis when the Arc itself was finally located. Moros and Thor studied it thoroughly before Moros found the answer to activating it in one of the tomes he had collected from the time his people first left their original home. He had a captured Prior brought from the brig to the lab where he was working on the Arc. He nodded at Thor who then handed the Prior his staff.

"Why do you return my staff? Are you not afraid of the power of the Ori I wield?" Moros and Thor both laughed. "Have you forgotten who captured you?" Thor boomed in his deep voice. Moros simply looked at the Prior when he stopped laughing. "I have something I want to show you Prior." And he opened the lid to the Arc allowing the blinding white light of truth to flow over the Prior. All across the Ori galaxy, Priors stopped what they were doing as their staves lit up brightly with the light of truth.

Even the Doci learned the truth and broke down crying. It was a shock to learn they had been lied to all of their lives. Some of the Priors even committed suicide as they couldn't bear the shame of it all. The war had been won and peace could now begin. The UEC pledged to help protect and educate the people the Ori had purposely kept stagnant. Tomin was released from prison back in the Milky Way and brought back home to lead his people. Adria was also finally "rehabilitated" by Oma and decided against ascending to return to help make up for the harm she had caused in the name of the Ori.

It was a new beginning for the people of three galaxies, galaxies that had been subjugated by the Wraith, the Goa'uld, and the Ori. Two races that had defeated the Ancients and one that had been allowed to prosper in the Ancients absence were virtually wiped from existence. From their higher plain of existence, the former Alterans, Furlings, and Lanteans watched with awe and respect at the accomplishments of the Tau'ri and their allies. Granted, without the advanced technology given to them, they would have been defeated and enslaved by the Goa'uld. But they had prevailed through sheer force of will and pure stubbornness.

Several of the ascended decided to retake human form to live in the aftermath of the UEC victory and make up for the mistakes they themselves had made. The ascended "high council" had allowed them to return as long as they wiped most of their ascended powers. Moros allowed them to remove most of his as well.

Some of their powers they kept as they had them before ascension. Most of the ones that descended, including Moros, had the ability to heal, telekinesis, telepathy, precognition, and other special abilities. Some, like Ayiana, had the power to project an energy blast. They all still had their higher intellect and ability to build highly advanced technologies. In the years following the War of Liberation, the UEC expanded across the Milky Way, Pegasus, and Ori galaxies. The last Goa'uld System Lord was finally captured and executed by the Tok'ra who had expanded their numbers to far exceed the number the Goa'uld had at their peak.

**Atlantis Pegasus Galaxy**

**Just before the defeat of the Ori**

Ayiana had taken the new Deep Space Explorer the UEC _Galileo_ to Atlantis to search the database for the tracking frequency and command codes for _Destiny_. She searched the entire database but didn't find what she was looking for. She was about to just jump the ship to hyperspace and try a best "guess" where the ship was when a bright light filled the room. "Hello Ayiana. You won't find it by just guessing and even if you do, you won't have the command codes to take control of the ship."

Ayiana smiled and hugged her friend. "The _others_ must be getting lax to allow you to say all of that." Ganos smiled before answering. "Normally they wouldn't allow it. But this time; they are giving me a lot more leeway. Not only that but I am being allowed to show you where you can get the command codes and how to find the ship." Before Ayiana could ask why, there was another bright flash and her friend was standing before her clad in normal Alteran clothes that were worn on Atlantis before the Wraith war.

Ayiana stood staring in shock. "They let you retake human form!" Ganos smiled and grunted as Ayiana almost tackled her in a bear hug. "Yes, they allowed me to descend to the mortal plain. I don't have all of the ascended memories or powers but I do know exactly where to find what we need to find and return _Destiny_ and the seed ships. We won't bring the seed ships back, we'll just repair them if they need it their mission is still very critical. We may allow _Destiny_ to continue its original mission as well once it's repaired and upgraded. Several of the _others_ that were planned to be a part of the original mission want to descend as well once we find the ship and continue their mission. They have realized how exciting it will be to learn things first hand."

Ayiana was surprised to say the least. "Ok, now that you've totally shocked the crap out of me, where do we start to look?" Ganos smiled coyly. "Earth of course, the data is in the very place where _Destiny_ was built and launched from." She couldn't help but to be amused at the look on Ayiana's face.

"You forgot how extensive the database on Earth was didn't you? Ayiana, the base we built _Destiny_, the seed ships, AND Atlantis is not only a defense outpost and shipyard, it houses the largest database we have ever built." Ayiana did a typically human thing and slapped herself on the forehead. "Wow, you are right! How could I forget such a thing? I programmed most of it! Oh, but the command chair and drone launching systems have been moved. We'll have to access the database through normal terminals unless you want to temporarily bring the chair back down."

Ganos looked at her friend like she was seeing her for the first time. "Well? What are we waiting for? We'll send the _Galileo_ to Earth so the Captain can give her a good shakedown while we dial Earth and go through the gate. By the time they reach Earth, we'll have the data we need to find and take control of _Destiny_." She said with a smile. Ayiana smiled back like a school girl then hailed the _Galileo_.

"Captain Wilson this is Ayiana, what I'm looking for isn't in the database here but I believe it may be in the database at the outpost on Earth. It is where we built and launched _Destiny_ after all. So go ahead and set a course for Earth and I'll go through the gate and meet you there. That'll give you a chance to test out the systems on a galaxy to galaxy trip. It will also give me time to find what I need. Also prepare a set of guest quarters; we'll have a guest for the trip." With that she signed off and dialed the SGC on Earth. Once they arrived on Earth, a quick sight to sight beam and they were at the outpost in Antarctica. The entire outpost had been thawed out and was manned by scientists and engineers from around the world.

It didn't take long for the two Alterans to find not only the tracking signal for _Destiny_ but the command override codes and the complete schematic for the ship. They also located the schematics for the seed ships as well. They both knew the _Galileo_ had the latest Asgard hyperdrive and an Arcturus reactor with AZPM pedestal backups. So theoretically it could have made the trip from Pegasus to Earth in less than an hour. But they also knew Captain Wilson would want to test more than just the hyperdrive so they had plenty of time for the Alteran computer to plot the most efficient intercept course to catch _Destiny_.

Instead of a trip that was less than one hour, the _Galileo_ dropped out of hyperspace the next day after leaving Atlantis. Captain Wilson had dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Milky Way and reversed course back to the Pegasus galaxy. He didn't drop out of hyperspace again until they had crossed the entire width of the Pegasus galaxy.

At the far side of that galaxy at the furthest point from Earth, he ordered his helmsman to set a course for Earth and jump back to hyperspace at their best speed. They dropped out of hyperspace at the asteroid belt in the Sol system exactly two hours after entering hyperspace on the far side of the Pegasus galaxy. "Not bad, not bad at all." Captain Wilson said as his ship transitioned back into normal space. "Tactical, run a full diagnostic on the weapons systems and shields then find some evil asteroids in the belt to calibrate and test the weapons on." He said through a smile.

After the tactical officer had thoroughly defeated every evil asteroid he targeted, the _Galileo_ went to warp instead of hyperspace for the short trip to Earth. They assumed a standard orbit then hailed Ayiana to see if she was ready to beam up. Once Ayiana and Ganos were beamed aboard and Ayiana downloaded the intercept course into the main computer, the _Galileo_ pointed its bow to deep space and opened a hyperspace window. The computer calculated the time to intercept even at their best speed was just over two years. _Destiny _had been traveling at the equivalent of warp nine for over one million years. It would take awhile to catch her.

**Three years later**

**Unknown galaxy**

The _Galileo_ dropped out of hyperspace outside of a solar system that _Destiny_ had just entered as well. It had taken the crew a full three years to catch up with the _Destiny _as the _Galileo_ had stopped in every galaxy along the way just long enough to build a supergate and dial the Milky Way to report their progress. Soon after making the report, a squadron of _Galileo_ class deep space explorers and construction ships would dial up the new supergate and enter that galaxy. The squadron would stay long enough for the construction ships to build a starbase (waystation) and defensive turrets before spreading out to explore the new galaxy. Each starbase had a stargate on it to dial gates the seed ships had built in that galaxy.

Once the _Galileo_ finally caught up to _Destiny_, the Ancient battleship had just dropped out of FTL (which was very similar to Federation Warp Drive) and was cruising at sublight preparing to recharge its power cells in a sun. _Galileo_ dropped from hyperspace and jumped to warp just outside the solar system.

Ayiana wanted to scan _Destiny_ with the long range sensors since they seemed to work better at warp than in hyperspace. They were based off of Federation sensors after all, just upgraded a bit with Alteran and Asgard technology. As they got closer to _Destiny_, they got a clearer reading on the ship. "It looks like she's been through hell. I'm reading several areas of the ship exposed to space and power fluctuations throughout the ship. Wait a minute. I'm picking up something else. I'm trying to clear it up and boost sensor power. There, I got it."

As Ganos stepped up behind Ayiana, Ayiana pointed to something on the hull of the ship. "That looks like something is latched onto the hull. I'm reading life signs coming from it. It's detaching. Captain, we need to capture that ship." Captain Wilson leaned forward in his chair. "Helm, intercept that ship. Tactical, ready the tractor beam and bring it into the forward shuttlebay and have a security detachment standing by. Number one you have the bridge." With that Captain Wilson, Ayiana, and Ganos entered the turbolift and headed for the forward shuttlebay.

As they entered the door to the forward shuttlebay, they heard phaser fire. All three broke into a run toward the alien fighter. As they cleared the edge of the fighter so they could see around it, they saw a security team pointing their phaser rifles at an unmoving alien lying on the floor. "Sorry about that captain, he attacked the instant he came out of the ship so we had to stun him." Ayiana and Ganos studied the unconscious alien. "It has what look like gills on either side of its head. The shape of the head, the webbed fingers, and semi-transparency of the skin suggests that it most likely evolved on a water world."

Captain Wilson looked up at the security team leader. "Transport him to a holding cell and notify one of us when he wakes up." He indicated the two Alterans standing over the alien. Ayiana and Ganos both nodded silently toward the captain and stepped back as the blue skinned alien disappeared in a swirl of lights. The three were about to head back to the bridge when the captains combadge beeped. Captain Wilson tapped the badge. "Go ahead number one."

They all three listened closely as the Executive Officer answered. "Captain, the _Destiny_ just exited the corona of the star and scanned us. She has come to a full stop and is sending an automated hail." Ayiana and Ganos exchanged a look of pure excitement. "Commander, can you patch it down here please?" Ayiana asked. When the inquisitive hail came through, she entered the response with the command codes and stood by.

A few seconds later the XO called back. "Director, the shields on the _Destiny_ just dropped and I'm detecting a breathable atmosphere forming onboard." The captain didn't waste time in hitting his combadge again. "Transporter room this is the Captain, beam Ayiana, Ganos, and the security team in the shuttlebay to the bridge of the _Destiny_ now!" Each person named activated their environmental personal shields just before the transporter beam locked on and they disappeared from the shuttlebay only to appear on _Destiny_ a few seconds later.

Ayiana and Ganos both immediately went to work going over the various readings from consoles in the bridge. The security team started to fan out and begin searching the ship when Ayiana stopped them. "Lieutenant, even though you have the environmental shields activated, it would be best to allow the remotes to search the ship. There are several hull breaches throughout the ship and internal sensors are down as well in several places." The lieutenant nodded and signaled his team to secure the doorway as he watched half a dozen remote probes floated passed them and spread out through the ship. _Destiny _accepted the command codes from both Ayiana and Ganos and the automated program shut down.

After about half an hour, Ayiana hailed the _Galileo_. "Ok Captain, we have total control of _Destiny_ and have a rough idea of the repairs needed. You can start beaming over engineers at your earliest convenience." A few seconds later, dozens of teams of engineers and more security began materializing onboard _Destiny_. Captain Wilson launched the eight _Vampire_ fighters the _Galileo_ carried along with all of the shuttles and runabouts. He wanted as much coverage as possible just in case the aliens that left the fighter attached to _Destiny_ decided to show up.

Repairs were going well on the _Destiny_ and the crew of the _Galileo_ and the extra teams of scientists and engineers had been at it for just over three hours when Ayiana received the call that the alien had woken up. Ayiana looked over at Ganos but Ganos beat her to the punch.

"I'll head over and see if I can figure out what this race wants and why they had a ship attached to ours. I'll also have the Betazoid councilor go with me." She assured her friend. Ayiana smiled at her friend's ability to read her. "That is the reason you are the best suited of the two of us to conduct this interrogation. I've located and activated the repair drones that were in storage. With the industrial replicator on board the _Galileo_, we'll have repairs completed inside of an hour and can start with the upgrades."

Ganos beamed back to the _Galileo_ to interview the prisoner. She was thinking to herself and going over the fact that Ayiana had said interrogate instead of interview. She called the ship's counselor who happened to be Betazoid. When the two of them walked into the brig, both froze in horror at the overwhelming rage coming from the prisoner. Ganos shook it off and approached the cell. She had been told to keep talking to the alien and pointing out things and giving their names in English. Her first thoughts though were of _Destiny_.

"Why were you attached to our ship? What is your interest and purpose for invading our sovereign property?" She was reading images and feelings from the blue alien. The Betazoid councilor was getting several things too. Suddenly both Ganos and Emorra (the Betazoid) froze again this time from concern. Ganos quickly went into action. She quickly hit her combadge.

"Captain, this is Ganos. I am in the security office with Councilor Emorra. We were interrogating (she realized it was the right word from the feelings she got from the alien) the prisoner when we both got several images. Hail _Destiny_ and let Ayiana know we're about to have company." The lights changed all over the ship and the red alert klaxon sounded before the captain answered. "Understood Ganos, we'll notify Ayiana and have gone to red alert ourselves. We just picked up the incoming ships on long range sensors. Keep working with the prisoner and get as much information from him as you can, Wilson out."

A few minutes later, five square doghouse looking ships dropped out of hyperspace around _Destiny, Galileo,_ and the fighters launched from the UEC deep space explorer. Ayiana took the lead and opened hailing frequencies to the newly arrived ships. "This is Councilor Ayiana of the Alteran High Council. Why was one of your people aboard our ship?" There was a long pause before several clicks and whistles sorted out into an understandable language thanks to the universal translator and the bits of language Councilor Emorra and Ganos had gleaned from the prisoner's mind. "We are the Nakai. We claim this ship by right of salvage. It was damaged when we found it. We are within our rights to claim it as ours."

Ayiana smiled evilly at the viewscreen. "I beg to differ Captain or whatever your rank is. My people built this ship eons ago to explore the universe. We allowed it to perform this exploration without interference from us until we could return to retrieve the data this battleship has collected. Leave and renounce your claim or be destroyed. The choice is yours." The Nakai captain's response was to launch fighters and lock weapons. Ayiana nodded in resignation as the sensors on _Destiny_ told her what the Nakai were doing. "So be it. Captain Wilson, you know what to do. _Destiny _is fully operational and will provide any additional support you require."

The Nakai fighters surged forward and opened fire so did the funny looking motherships. The _Vampires _then showed the Nakai how they had earned their name as they immediately returned fire, drawing first blood. The Nakai weapons fire splashed off of the UEC shields harmlessly while return fire from the UEC destroyed anything it touched. So far the _Galileo_ had not fired yet other than using the GEF phasers on the occasional fighter that made it through the shuttles and fighters. Ayiana hailed the Nakai ship again. "This is your last chance to surrender and live. If you fail to renounce your claim on this ship and leave, you will die."

She gave the Nakai another full minute in which they neither left nor ceased their attack. In fact the five motherships even increased their fire on the _Destiny_. "If that's how you want to play it, Captain Wilson they've made their choice. Do what you need to do. I'm opening fire with _Destiny _as well." With that the main batteries fired a powerful salvo into the lead Nakaian ship. At the same time _Galileo_ glided forward effortlessly. The multi-directional phaser array on the saucer lashed out at the attacking ships while a spread of quantum/drones poured from the forward tubes tearing two Nakaian ships into base molecules. The ship hit by _Destiny_ had its shield weakened but otherwise they held. It became even a more one sided slaughter when the _Vampires_, shuttles, and runabouts finished off the last of the fighters and launched their own attacks on the three remaining motherships.

Ganos stood staring at the carnage the UEC ships caused. She had been comforted when she found out that the _Galileo_ was a ship of exploration not war. Now she saw that this ship had teeth and as much firepower as one of their pre-Wraith _Auroras_. The _Vampires_ were even more impressive as they were as small as Alteran gateships but packed the firepower of an Alteran Cruiser! Within mere minutes of the last fighter being destroyed, the remaining three motherships were shredded by pulse phasers, micro torpedoes, and quantum/drones launched from the fighters, shuttles, and runabouts.

With the battle won, Ganos beamed back to _Destiny_. Ayiana looked up as her friend entered the bridge. She noticed the pale face and blank expression on the face of her friend. "Ganos, what's wrong? It's not like that was the first time you've seen the firepower of the UEC." Ganos smiled weakly. "It's the first time I have seen it in mortal form Ayiana. I watched the main guns of Destiny fire at full power and they didn't even get through the shields of the Nakaian ship or bring them below fifty percent! Yet the _Galileo_ destroyed two in one salvo! Then the fighters destroyed the other three!"

Ayiana approached her friend and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That should ease your worries that the Tau'ri will be able to take their place as the protectors of the galaxy or galaxies, which we should have been. They are strong, resilient, and only growing stronger by the day." Ganos looked worriedly at Ayiana. "That's what worries me Ayiana. What happens if somebody new comes into power in the UEC and uses that awesome power for evil instead of good?"

Ayiana nodded her head in understanding. "That's why we are around Ganos. We are here to be their moral compass should they start to stray. You are well aware that an Alteran can live for a VERY long time barring an unfortunate accident or a direct hit from a quantum torpedo." She half joked. With that she activated the com system and hailed the _Galileo_. "Captain Wilson, I appreciate the assistance you are giving to upgrading _Destiny_ but I would recommend you locate a singularity and construct a supergate. Reinforcements would be a wise precaution if the Nakai decide to return in greater numbers."

Captain Wilson looked pensive on the viewscreen. "Alright Director, I agree reinforcements would be a welcome addition. Let me bring the shuttles and fighters back aboard and make sure they are fully rearmed and the pilots rotated out. Once they are launched again, I'll jump a few systems over where sensors have located a black hole and get that supergate built."

Ayiana started to protest but the Captain held firm. "I understand this is your mission Director but I will feel better with the extra backup the fighters and shuttles will provide you. Don't think I didn't notice the main guns of _Destiny_ were less than optimal against the shields of the Nakaian mothership. It would have taken a couple more shots at a minimum to breach them and damage the ship itself. Don't worry about us. The _Galileo_ can more than handle herself against three or four times the number of ships that attacked earlier. Trust me on that one."

With that the _Vampires_, shuttles (mostly Delta Flyer II's), and the runabouts landed aboard the deep space explorer to rearm and have a quick maintenance inspection performed on them. Once all the fighters and shuttles were back in space, the _Galileo_ jumped into hyperspace toward the nearby black hole. Ayiana and Ganos began programming new construction parameters into the automated repair drones onboard _Destiny_. Ayiana had brought a normal personal replicator and was busy working to tie it into the current power systems on the Ancient battleship. Her theory was to use it to replicate parts to upgrade the power or the weapons systems on both of the shuttles already on _Destiny _and the weapons on _Destiny_ as well. She wanted to do more than weaken the shields if the Nakai returned.

An hour later Ayiana had finished upgrading the weapons on the shuttles and the secondary weapons on _Destiny_. She hadn't made it to the main guns when Ganos told her they had incoming ships. "Sensor profile matches Nakai motherships, lots of them." Ayiana fired up the coms system. "Vampire lead we've got incoming. Sensors show twenty Nakai motherships arriving in about five minutes. I'll leave coordination of your fighters and shuttles to your discretion. I have upgraded _Destiny's_ shuttles and secondary weapons. I wasn't able to get to the main guns but I should be able to weaken the shields with them and then maybe take them all the way down with the secondary ones."

"Acknowledged _Destiny_, use your shuttles to keep the Nakaian fighters from locking onto your ship and just in case have the security teams ready to repel or destroy boarders." Ayiana had not even considered that eventuality. "Understood Vampire Lead, the internal sensors are fully functional so if any slip by, we'll detect them before they get far. Also, I scanned all of the UEC ships and entered their energy signature into the IFF codes so the automated fighter defense cannons will not shoot at any of you." She heard a chuckle over the open channel. "Much appreciated Director. It would suck to get shot down by the very ship we are trying to protect." His next sentence was interrupted by the arrival of the Nakai ships. "Hate to cut the conversation short Director but we are about to have our hands full."

"That makes two of us Vampire Lead. My shuttles are clear and moving to bracket _Destiny_. Good hunting Vampire Lead." Ayiana then closed the channel and began tracking the motherships with the main guns and secondary ones as well. She set the smaller twin barreled turrets to auto fire mode and let the computer deal with any fighters that might slip through.

The _Vampires_ broke off into four teams of two, a lead and a wingman to deal with the massive amount of fighters that twenty motherships could launch. The DF II's and runabouts began to target the motherships themselves with pulse phasers and micro-quantum/drones. Ayiana watched the progression of the heated battle and began to target the motherships that the DF II's and runabouts were concentrating on. Eight of the twenty motherships were destroyed within the first ten minutes of the battle. Ayiana was thinking they might get through this when she heard Ganos' almost panicked voice. "Two of the motherships are moving to ram us!"

Ayiana jumped to the helm controls and fired the engines in full reverse. _Destiny _was a big ship and she didn't move quickly from a dead stop. Ganos was keeping a running tally on the two ships approaching fast. One of the Lanteans that had joined the expedition took over the weapons station and began firing the main guns, alternating between the two approaching motherships. It didn't take long until one of the ships entered range of the tri-barrel turrets of the secondary weapons. The main guns slammed that ship once again while the tri-barrel turrets quickly followed up. This time the shields failed under the upgraded secondary weapons. The Lantean took advantage of that and fired the main guns into the unshielded ship, turning it into a drifting wreck.

"I got one but I'm not going to be able to get the second one before it manages to ram us." Even after saying that, the Lantean kept trying by firing every weapon that could be brought to bear. Ayiana stayed on the helm controls while activating the coms system as well. "All hands this is Director Ayiana, brace for impact. We are trying to avoid being rammed by an enemy mothership but I don't think we'll make it. Everyone should move toward the rear of the ship if possible, Ayiana out."

Ayiana had not realized the transmission had gone outside the ship until she saw two _Vampire _fighters and two DF II's drop out of FTL directly behind the fast approaching mothership and unleashed a storm of pulse phaser fire combined with quantum/drones. The aft shields of the mothership failed spectacularly before the torpedoes slammed into the unshielded engines. A mothership sized fireball washed over the shields of _Destiny_ as consoles sparked and overloaded but the ship itself survived.

Half of the motherships had now been destroyed but _Destiny's_ shields were on the verge of collapse after the near collision. Salvos from the remaining motherships were starting to bleed through the shields and burn through hull plating in places. Ayiana worked on sealing off sections that were now open to space again. Consoles were overloading and exploding. The only good thing so far was not one single enemy fighter had made it through the layered defenses to even attempt to board _Destiny_.

Several of the Lanteans were moving through the people that had boarded _Destiny_ in hopes of repairing the ship. Several people had been wounded and the Lanteans happened to be a few of the ones with healing powers. Another two Nakaian motherships stopped firing and began drifting after having sustained too much damage to fire their main weapons. That was twelve out of twenty that were now out of the fight. That still left eight ships pouring fire into _Destiny's_ shield. All of the DF II's and runabouts were also out of the fight. The eight _Vampire_ fighters were still going strong but had their hands full without the support of the shuttles.

Ayiana decided to cut the shuttles from_ Destiny_ loose to help out the fighters. "Director, I don't feel comfortable leaving _Destiny_ undefended." Ayiana had to order him. "I understand it makes you uncomfortable but _Destiny _can handle any fighters that manage to get through. It's the motherships that are hurting us. If you can free up a couple of the _Vampires_ they can take the pressure off of us!" The two shuttles broke away from the larger battleship and dove into the furball of fighters. More consoles shorted and exploded and _Destiny _was taking a beating. Ayiana was about to order everyone to abandon ship when the helm console exploded in her face. She never saw her friend leaning over her screaming her name nor did she see the fabric of space tear open and spew forth an entire squadron of UEC dreadnaughts spreading death and destruction through space.

Ayiana woke with the biggest headache she had ever known. Ganos was sleeping in a chair near her bed. Ayiana looked around and realized she was in the medbay of a UEC ship. "What happened?" She managed to choke out through her dry throat. Ganos was awake instantly and by her side. "We thought we were going to lose you even after the help from myself and two of the Lanteans. You took an exploding console straight in the face just as the _Galileo_ arrived with a full squadron of dreadnaughts. They had just finished the construction of the supergate when they picked up your order for everyone to move toward the rear of the ship and away from the outer hull. Captain Wilson immediately dialed the supergate and then waited until the UEC dialed back and send through the dreadnaughts. Their mission will now be to track down and show the Nakai the error of their ways.

Ayiana was worried a bit after hearing that. "What if they come back after _Destiny_? We barely survived and wouldn't have if they hadn't shown up. Can this ship fight off more than twenty motherships?" Ganos looked at her calmly. "Ayiana, you're not on a ship. You are on a fully operational starbase with an entire fleet assigned to its protection. Also _Destiny_ was fully upgraded with two Arcturus reactors, new power conduits, new weapons, and shields then allowed to continue with a full crew. " Ayiana was stunned. "How long have I been out?" Ganos patted her hand and smiled. "You've been in a coma for six months….."

Tears began to roll down Ayiana's cheeks. "Six months? Why? How!?" Ganos simply shook her head. We don't know. Your body showed there was nothing wrong physically but we couldn't wake you up. One of the half Vulcans even tried a mind meld. But all he got was chaotic images of what he described as scenes from his reality. He was very confused and said that even if you had memorized every scrap of data from the information given to the UEC by Captain O'Neill, it would not explain the various images he witnessed inside your mind."

Ayiana simply looked confused. "I can't tell you what I experienced but I can tell you that something felt very wrong and it seemed like the Federation was in serious trouble. I think somehow something still went wrong in their reality even after we killed Ba'al and destroyed the quantum mirror here. I need to contact the UEC, it's urgent." Even against the protest of Ganos she was determined to contact UEC headquarters. She finally gave up and agreed to let Ganos contact them then patch the signal to the medbay even though she was in better shape now than she was when she was first thawed out. She smiled as she saw the face of Lieutenant General Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill appear on the screen in front of her. "Well I see congratulations are in order." Jack made a face that showed he wasn't happy with the promotion. "It's good to see you are alright. Everyone was worried about you."

She nodded in acknowledgement. "We have a problem General. Or should I say the Federation has a problem? I'm not sure how but somehow I think my consciousness was transported through to their reality. I saw enough to know that somehow their plan didn't work out quite the way they hoped." She let that sink in. "Well, we owe them our lives but they took the knowledge of reaching their reality back on the _Ascension_." Ayiana smiled mischievously. "Not totally true General. The knowledge was left in Captain Kawalsky's mind as a safeguard. Ganos, one of the Betazoids, or Commander L'Tel, he's half Vulcan, can extract the information then build the necessary projector to open a dimensional rift to their reality." She said through her smile.

O'Neill smiled. "Well then, let's get that done and we'll send a probe through and see what the situation is. We are where we are today because of the help they provided us. The least we can do is to see if they really are in trouble and return the favor."

**Well here's chapter 10. I will be doing of course one more chapter to repay the UEC's debt to the Federation. After that, if you haven't noticed, I've set up the storyline for a follow-on book. I won't make the Furlings out to be like the ones in Scourge's Fall of the Gods but I feel I need to do something to explain in my own way why we never met the Furlings (other than that atrocious Wormhole Extreme fiasco from "200"). Hope you enjoy this and the follow ons.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ok, Folks. This is a re-write to clean up a few mistakes that were pointed out to me. I have about half of the first chapter of Book 2 of the series finished. I will work on it over the next couple of days and most likely go through the rest of the chapters for this book again to clean up a few other mistakes in the other ten chapters I have found.**

It had taken Ayiana, Ganos, and Colonel Carter almost three months to construct a working dimensional projector even with the complete schematics being taken from Captain Kawalsky's brain. The main reason because instead of shifting one ship across dimensions, Carter had wanted to actually open a rift that a fleet of ships could go through.

Between Carter and the two Alterans, they came up with a projector that could open an artificial rift then adjust the size of the rift from large enough for several dreadnaughts to pass though at once, to microscopic. This is what they did in the void outside of the Sol Solar System. They opened a rift large enough to fire a stealth probe through then reduced the rift to microscopic so it would be almost impossible to detect in the Federation reality but they could still get telemetry from the probe.

The probe cloaked the instant it transitioned realities and moved off at low warp toward Earth. Sam, Ayiana, and Ganos were all anxiously watching the readings coming in from the probe as it made its approach to Earth. "I'm reading lots of debris and unusual background radiation. I'm also detecting several ships ranging from dreadnaught size down to what I would classify as a frigate or an exceptionally large fighter." Ganos said as she went over the readings.

As the probe slowed to normal space and began to creep forward on inertia alone only firing breaking thruster in microsecond pulses to slow the craft. It then activated more sensors to get a better picture of the space around Earth.

L'Tel, the half Vulcan science officer of the _Galileo_ was present since he would be able to point out what might be wrong in his reality. As the images came in much clearer, L'Tel spoke up. "Those are Jem'Hadar warships. It seems the killing of Ba'al in this reality failed to prevent the Dominion from attacking and defeating the Federation. The only comfort I can find in this would be that Earth is not destroyed as it was before we came here. That gives me hope that Vulcan is still intact."

Ganos had gone over the data that the Federation had provided the UEC on their history. "This makes no sense. From what I read and from what I've been told personally, the killing of Ba'al and destroying the quantum mirror should have set things right? We need more information than the probe can provide us. We need to contact the Federation if they still exist."

Ayiana agreed as did everyone watching the feed coming in from the probe. She closed the rift completely and left the probe in passive mode near a large asteroid to continue to gather data then hailed General O'Neill who was now on Earth as the new commander for all of the UEC space forces.

"General, we sent a probe through like we had planned. What we saw in the Sol System was not good. It was loaded with Dominion warships and the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, the Luna Shipyards, Starbase 1, and all presence of Starfleet had been destroyed. Earth and the Sun were still intact so my feeling is it isn't Ba'al that did this or at least not in the way he did before. We've come to a consensus that we need more information than a probe can give us. We need to send a ship to contact or try to contact the Federation. I would suggest extreme caution though."

General O'Neill smiled. "I have just the ship and Commander to send and I have a way to implement that caution you suggest. Our preliminary scouting reports of the local galactic group have shown the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy looks to be a dead galaxy. I can have the _Phantom _and Colonel Lucatero jump to the edge of that galaxy and open a rift to the Federation reality and then enter the Milky Way in hyperspace. Since all evidence points that the neither the Federation nor any power in that reality has traveled outside of the Milky Way. They can then travel under cloak at warp."

L'Tel stepped forward, "General, I would not advise that. The Dominion have always had a way to detect our ships even under cloak." O'Neill smiled wickedly. "I understand that but the Federation did not have the cloak of a race that was millions of years old combined with the data of the cloak used by that Reman that took over the Romulan Empire. What was his name, Shinzon or something like that?" L'Tel nodded in confirmation.

"General, I would like to request to go on the mission with the _Phantom_. I believe my contribution and presence would be invaluable to the success of the mission." Ayiana stepped forward as well. "It would be advisable to send as many crew members from the Federation as possible on the mission General. While we have the entire history of the Federation and the other powers in that reality, they have lived there and would have greater insight." O'Neill looked at the screen. "I know that Ayiana and had already planned to ask for volunteers." He said matter of factly.

Ayiana nodded. "I would like to add my name to that list General." He laughed. I figured you would and I figured Ganos might as well." Ganos had planned on going to _Destiny_ when it reached the next galaxy in her path and created the supergate there. "General, I had planned on joining _Destiny_ at her next stop. But going to a completely different reality peaks my interest even more. Yes General, I would love to be on your scouting mission." O'Neill looked off to someone they couldn't see on screen. "I've just been informed that the _Phantom_ will be ready to depart in six hours as it will take them that long to install and test the dimensional projector. You have that much time to make your preparations, O'Neill out."

Four hours later the UEC _Phantom _jumped into hyperspace in route to the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy. With the arrival of Sam, Ayiana, and Ganos, the installation of the dimensional projector was finished earlier than the original estimate. They only had a short window because they wanted to find out what had gone wrong as fast as possible. In the short time frame, they were only able to allow twelve volunteers from the Federation to go on the mission. It would have simply taken too much time to get everyone that volunteered to Earth in time. Also the _Phantom_ wouldn't have had the room for all of them it was only three hundred meters long and most of that was engine struts. The _Phantom_ was built off of the frame of a massively upgraded _Norway_ class light cruiser.

**Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy**

**UEC ****_Phantom_**

It hadn't taken long once they arrived in the Sagittarius galaxy. They didn't travel deeply into the dwarf galaxy; they set up to open the dimensional rift just one light year from the outer edge. Colonel Lucatero had ordered a probe sent through first to make sure the area was clear and safe. "Take us in then close the rift behind us. We'll open another one and report once we have a better picture of the situation."

As the _Phantom_ cleared the rift sensors detected an unidentified energy spike on the far side of the system. Ganos wasn't sure what it was but she marked the readings so she could study them in depth later as the spike was quickly drowned out by the swirling energy of the dimensional rift. She could have sworn she had detected a small ship slightly smaller than a gateship but roughly the same shape. She would definitely have to look into this later. The Sagittarius Galaxy, according to preliminary scouting reports, was supposed to be lifeless. So just before the ship was swallowed by the rift, she launched a stealth probe that was already loaded in the aft torpedo tube.

**Federation Reality**

**Just outside of the Milky Way**

The transition between realities went smoothly and the UEC _Phantom_ dropped out of hyperspace just outside of the galactic edge of the Milky Way. While under cloak, Colonel Lucatero wanted to link into the cloaked probe in the Sol system and see if anything had changed. The probe was still hidden in the asteroid belt and downloaded its collected information in a micro-databurst. Some of the data had the entire command crew and the volunteers scratching their heads in confusion. Most of the data showed Dominion warships moving around the system and rotating through a repair yard in orbit of Earth. The last bit of data showed the probe detected multiple ships approaching at high warp.

Four _Defiant_ class ships, two _Saber _class light cruisers, and a handful of runabouts dropped out of warp and unleashed a storm of quantum and photon torpedoes into the arrayed ships and the shipyard. Before any of the Dominion ships could react, the small raiding force had jumped back to warp leaving several ships powerless and adrift and the shipyard nothing but charred debris.

"So the Federation is still fighting but it seems they are reduced to gorilla style raids. Ayiana, can we determine where that attack fleet went to after they jumped to warp?" Ayiana picked up the remote. "The entire fleet broke apart here," She indicated with a laser pointer. "And we lost track of each ship around here. They must have a hidden base somewhere to rendezvous at." L'Tel spoke up. "Before we came to your reality, we built the _Ascension_ at a combined Federation/Klingon base hidden in the Vodrey Nebula on the Federation/Klingon border. I would suggest starting there." He stated matter of factly.

Colonel Lucatero thought for a minute. "Ok, I am still confused about why the Dominion ships didn't fire on the attack fleet as soon as it dropped out of warp?" Ganos had the answer to that question. "Colonel, we wouldn't have detected them either if we hadn't upgraded the sensors using not only Alteran technology but Asgard as well. The attack fleet was broadcasting some form of jamming that our sensors could cut through but the Dominion's sensors could not." The Colonel accepted that and thought for a few minutes.

"Ok, plot a course for the Vodrey Nebula and take us to hyperspace but make sure and drop us out before we enter their sensor range then cloak the ship and jump to warp." The helmsman followed his orders and seconds later the stealth cruiser jumped into hyperspace. While they were in hyperspace, Ganos motioned for Ayiana to follow her to the science lab.

Ayiana was curious about what her friend wanted but before she could ask Ganos addressed the colonel. "Colonel, I noticed something on sensors just before we fully entered the rift. I'm going to take Ayiana down to the science lab so we can determine if I really did see something or if it was a sensor echo created by the rift itself." The Colonel stood up. "I would like to see that myself. Number One, you have the bridge."

Thirty minutes later the three were looking at a small ship of some kind with stubby wings, two small vertical tail fins, a glass covered cockpit that appeared to be sloped more sharply than a gateship, and two large exposed engines between the tail fins. Ganos was also able to zoom in and see several hard points under the fuselage and the wings. "Well, that clearly is some type of scout ship that uses a type of FTL similar to the Furling wormhole drive. I thought the Sagittarius Galaxy was supposed to be void of life?" Ayiana squinted at the front of the cockpit. "That was what preliminary scans have shown but we were interrupted by the Ori invasion before we were able to scan more than a few light years into the galaxy."

Colonel Lucatero caught the word Furling. "Wait, did you just say Furling? Could they have left the Milky Way for the Sagittarius galaxy?" Ganos and Ayiana both thought it over. "Well, that could be as the FTL is similar but I doubt it unless they somehow regressed technologically. The energy spike was nowhere near the power generated by the Furling wormhole drive. It could be that someone found Furling technology and reverse-engineered it though. The Goa'uld did it with our technology after all."

"I'll make sure and add this to my report once we have discovered what is going on in this reality. I'm sure if it's the Furlings or someone that gained access to their technology, General O'Neill will want to investigate." Ganos also added. "I launched the stealth probe we had loaded in the aft tube just before we crossed the threshold of the rift. It's cloaked and on auto pilot so if anyone goes to investigate, they can link with the probe and gather more Intel."

Just then Colonel Lucatero's combadge chirped. He tapped it to open the channel. "This is Lucatero, go ahead." The XO of the _Phantom _answered. "Colonel, we are about to drop out of hyperspace, cloak, and perform the long range sensor scans you requested of the Nebula. I just thought you might want to be on the bridge." Colonel Lucatero nodded even though he knew the XO couldn't see him. "We're on our way back to the bridge. Don't wait on us to run the scans, we'll look over them when we get there, Lucatero out."

Five minutes later, the turbolift doors opened with their characteristic swish, allowing the Colonel and the two Alterans onto the bridge. "What have you got Number One?" The XO simply stepped slightly to the side. "L'Tel was right Sir, there is a large concentration of Klingon and Federation ships in and around the Nebula. There is also a starbase and shipyard deep inside. I'm picking up just over forty Klingon ships under cloak outside the Nebula with an additional forty inside. There are slightly less Federation ships and most of them are light cruisers and escort cruisers."

The Colonel looked toward the half Vulcan before ordering the ship forward. "Take us to warp five and keep running scans. When we have reached the cloaked Klingon ships, bring us to a full stop 10,000 kilometers off the lead ship's bow. Then open a narrow band channel to the lead ship." With those orders given the cloaked stealth cruiser jumped into warp.

Four hours later, the UEC _Phantom_ dropped out of warp and came to a full stop 10,000 kilometers from the lead Klingon ship, decloaked, and opened a narrow band transmission. "This is Colonel Lucatero to cloaked Klingon ship off of our bow. We have come to assist the Federation and the Klingon Empire against the forces of the Dominion. We owe the Federation a Blood Debt and we are here to repay that debt." He waited a few minutes then watched as a Klingon Negh'Var decloaked. "This is Chancellor Martok of the Klingon warship the _Sword of Kahless_. How can you prove you are who you say you are?"

Colonel Lucatero smiled. "Chancellor, I stopped exactly 10,000 kilometers or 5,000 Kellicams as you would say, off of your bow because we can detect your ships. I did this to show I am sincere in my offer and that I harbor no ill will toward you. I also can tell you how many ships the Klingons and the Federation have within the Nebula. Not only can I do that, I can tell you which ones are damaged and which ones are fully crewed."

Everyone could see the thoughtful expression on the Chancellors face. "Hold position where you are and I will contact Admiral Janeway." Lucatero nodded. "That will be acceptable. We will wait for you to signal us back Chancellor but do not wait too long, we have a glorious battle to fight soon." Martok laughed at that. "You have the heart of a Klingon Warrior!" He said as he closed the channel.

Thirty minutes later the Chancellor hailed them. "You are cleared to bring a small delegation to my ship. Once your delegation has been searched and cleared, we will take you to meet Admiral Janeway in the Nebula. Your ship is to remain uncloaked and at her current position. Any deviation from those guidelines and you will be destroyed." Lucatero had been told what to expect so he agreed. "Those stipulations are acceptable Chancellor. Should we come over on a shuttle or will you use your transporters?" Martok laughed again. "We will transport you and your delegation from your bridge in five of your minutes." With that the channel closed.

"Ayiana, I want you, Ganos, L'Tel, and two more from the Federation here when they are ready to transport. Also bring whatever proof you can put together to prove our story." The six members of the delegation were ready five minutes later when the Chancellor hailed them again. As the screen came on, the Chancellor saw that the six members were already standing close together. "You are punctual, transporting now."

The _Phantom_ lowered its shields long enough for the transport to take place before raising them again. Ayiana had the recordings that Captain O'Neill had provided the UEC with about everything that happened after Ba'al had entered the Federation's reality up to the moment that the _Ascension_ jumped to hyperspace to return home.

**One Hour Later**

**Vodrey Starbase**

Admiral Janeway sat stoically as she watched the recordings on the briefing room screen. When the last one was finished, she pondered on what she had just witnessed before talking. "I find all of that very hard to believe. It goes against everything the Federation stands for. We are in bad shape right now but I am not sure how we would react if what was on those recordings had happened now." Ayiana spoke up then. "Speaking of that Admiral, what happened? We were under the impression that killing Ba'al and destroying the quantum mirror would have set your reality back on track."

Janeway thought over her answer carefully. "Well, I guess you can say it was our fault. Captain O'Neill had a small data crystal incased inside of some type of small shielded box. All it had was coordinates to a planet in the gamma quadrant and that the quantum mirror was to be captured or destroyed at all costs." She paused then continued.

"We sent the _Triton _equipped with a Romulan cloak to the coordinates to destroy the mirror. They succeeded but it pissed the Dominion off and they declared war on us. The _Triton _was destroyed with all hands before it could escape. It was supposed to be a simple mission to remove the threat of the mirror not start a war that nearly destroyed the Alpha and Beta quadrants." She paused remembering that she had been the one to give the order that sent them to their deaths and started this war.

"They came through the wormhole at Bajor and joined the Cardassians. They made Cardassia part of their Dominion then came through the wormhole in force after the Klingons attacked the Cardassian Union in a pre-emptive first strike. We were not ready for the sheer number of ships that came through. We held them near Bajor for months then the Breen joined the Dominion and we lost ground quickly. We have been reduced to pirate raids and we are losing ground in that arena as well."

Ayiana pulled out another data disk and inserted it into the projector. "We were monitoring the Sol system when your last raid hit the shipyards there. We have a stealth probe near a large asteroid and it recorded this." Admiral Janeway watched silently as the small attack fleet made their attack run then jumped back to warp. After the fleet jumped back to warp, Ayiana let the recording run long enough to allow the Admiral to see the probe could still track the fleet as it scattered to return home. Janeway looked questioningly at Ayiana. L'Tel picked up on that.

"If you would allow me to explain Admiral, the UEC has vastly superior technology than anyone I have ever worked with. Granted a lot of their technology comes from two exceedingly old races. One was the Alterans and the other is the Asgard. The Alterans were the same ones the Romans called the Builders of Roads. The Asgard are a race from another galaxy that befriended the Tau'ri or people of the first world and allied with them. Several people from the original mission to fix the damage Ba'al did to our reality, elected to stay on and help the UEC. You know me Admiral; we worked together upgrading the fleet after you returned from the Delta Quadrant."

Janeway again pondered on what she had heard. "You say you owe us a Blood Debt because we went against the Prime Directive and saved not only your world but three different galaxies? What form of assistance would you be providing? Would you give us technology, provide troops and ships, or would you fight with us?" Colonel Lucatero spoke then. "Admiral, if you would return to my ship with me, I will contact my chain of command and they can tell you exactly what they are willing to do. I would suggest bringing Chancellor Martok as well since you are allies with the Klingon Empire."

An hour later, Admiral Janeway, Captain Tuvok, and Chancellor Martok were beamed aboard the _Phantom_. Tuvok looked around curiously. "This is a _Norway _class light cruiser but I can see it has been heavily modified." Ayiana nodded in acknowledgement.

"We call it the _Phantom_ class. We did keep the _Norway_ class to use for border patrol or diplomatic missions but it has been upgraded with our technology as well. I'm sure you will understand when you see it in action." The Admiral had informed her people that they would be gone for a few hours. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that she was about to travel to another galaxy and back in only a few hours. All she could think about as the ship turned and opened a hyperspace window was wishing she had this technology when she and the crew of the _Voyager_ had been trapped in the Delta Quadrant.

An hour and a half later, the _Phantom_ dropped out of hyperspace. Ayiana smiled and looked over at Admiral Janeway. "Welcome to the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy Admiral." Janeway and Tuvok both shared a look. "Wow, what I would have given to have access to that technology several years ago." Tuvok nodded. "I would have to agree with you Admiral. Having access to hyperspace technology would have significantly shortened our stay in the Delta Quadrant." Ayiana smiled to herself as she knew that's what the Admiral and Tuvok had both been thinking.

"Opening a micro rift now Colonel. Rift stable and communications with Vice Admiral O'Neill are established." (The UEC had adopted naval rank after the _Phantom _left as they had dubbed their space forces as the United Earth Confederation Space Navy. The Marines kept their rank structure as they were the ground forces of the UEC.)

As Admiral O'Neill's face came on the screen, all three of the guests from this reality looked at each other. Chancellor Martok, Tuvok, and Admiral Janeway were all good friends with Captain O'Neill, the commander of the USS _Triton_ in their reality. "Ah, there you are kiddies. Having fun at your sleepover?" Janeway couldn't help but to crack up laughing. "He even acts like our O'Neill. Ok, I'm convinced. Admiral, your delegation has told me of your proposal to help get us back on our feet. I asked them what that would entail and they told me I would have to ask you, so I'm asking. What level of aid are you willing to give us?"

O'Neill didn't hesitate. "If it weren't for you and your people, most of the people on Earth would either be dead or enslaved. You tell me what you need and it's yours Admiral." Janeway was a bit shocked. "Well, ships and troops would be nice but I'd settle for some engineers and your hyperdrive technology." O'Neill smiled like a kid in a candy store and looked toward someone out of view. "Send the order Walter, Operation Blood Debt is a go." Ganos looked up from sensors. "Captain, I'm detecting multiple dimensional rifts and they are much larger than the one we opened."

Admiral Janeway stood staring in utter shock at the scene happening all around them. Captain Lucatero had ordered Ganos to put what she was seeing on the main screen. The viewscreen showed five large rifts opening in the solar system they were currently in. Each rift was spewing out massive ships of all designs. Some were heavily upgraded Federation designed ships. While others Janeway couldn't even hope to describe. "Captain, we're being hailed by Thor." Janeway laughed until she remembered what Ayiana had explained about the Asgard. Her mouth dropped wide open when the main viewscreen separated to a split view with Admiral O'Neill on the left and what could be described as a massive Viking Warrior in modern powered battle armor.

"Captain Lucatero, I hope you haven't stolen all of the glory for yourself and won the war without allowing me a taste of victory as well." Chancellor Martok belted out a roaring laugh. "By Sto-vo-kor, you sound positively Klingon!"

He laughed again heartily. Captain Lucatero chuckled at the Klingons antics. "We haven't started yet Thor. There will be plenty of glory for all to share. Will you be commanding the fleet?" Thor shook his shaggy head. "No, Admiral Carter aboard the _Blood Debt_ will be commanding the fleet." O'Neill spoke up. "She wouldn't let me name it Enterprise but I managed to get them to at least call the class that. The _Enterprise_ stayed here at Earth. But the _Blood Debt_ is the second of the class. She's a real beast." He grinned proudly as he had a major part in designing the ship.

The UEC _Blood Debt_ was a super dreadnaught. It was shaped similar to _Destiny_ but was 12,000 meters long. It was powered by five Arcturus Reactors, backed up by five AZPM stations, and ten Neutrino Ion Reactors. It also used Alteran hull hugging shields, and had a massive armament.

Under the ventral (belly) side of the ship there were four spinal mounted railguns (mounted two on either side of the _Vampire _bays, six spinal mounted plasma cannons, one hundred two barrel rotary plasma turrets, and fifty, three barrel plasma turrets. The three barrel plasma turrets were essentially upsized versions of the plasma repeater that the Kull Warriors had on their armor.

Each barrel was forty centimeters in diameter and was set in a triangle that rotated as the barrel on top began to overheat from the high fire rate to allow it to cool. You could override the safety protocols and fire all three barrels at once but that was a very risking thing to do. There were the same numbers of secondary turrets on the dorsal (top) side as well as type twelve multi-directional phaser arrays.

All told, twenty-one ships came through four of the rifts and twenty can through the rift the _Blood Debt _exited from. The UEC had committed one-hundred and four warships to the fight. Three of the attack fleets consisted of one _Atrox _class heavy carrier, one _Iwo Jima III_ Marine assault ship, one _Phantom_ class stealth cruiser, two _Vanquisher_ class dreadnaughts, five _Akira III_ class battle cruisers, five _Saber _III class scout cruisers, and five _Defiant III_ class escort destroyers.

Thor had brought one _Phantom _class stealth cruiser, one _Iwo Jima III_ Marine assault ship, two _Daniel Jackson_ class science vessels, two _Well of Urd _class dreadnaughts, and fifteen _O'Neill II_ battleships. The last attack fleet consisted of the _Blood Debt, _one _Iwo Jima III_ Marine assault ship, two _Vanquisher _class dreadnaughts, and five each of the _Akira IIIs, Defiant IIIs, and Saber IIIs. _The _Phantom_ would be joining the fleet as well.

In the conference room of the _Blood Debt_, the captains from every ship in the fleet joined Admiral Janeway, Captain Tuvok, and Chancellor Martok to finalize their battle plans. Newly promoted Rear Admiral Lower Half Samantha Carter began the briefing.

"Admiral, Chancellor, with the help of the members of the Federation that stayed in our reality, we have come up with the battle plan to retake Earth, Qo'noS, Betazed, Bajor, and Deep Space Nine. I will lead the assault on Dominion holdings in the Sol System with attack fleets one and two. Thor will lead attack fleets three and four to retake Bajor and Deep Space Nine before dispatching five _O'Neill IIs_ to link up with a Federation assault fleet to retake Betazed."

She took a breath before continuing. "Attack fleet five will link up with a Klingon assault fleet and tow them to Qo'noS to retake the Klingon homeworld." She could see Martok was about to protest. "Chancellor, I know you would prefer that we upgrade your ships with hyperdrives and allow you to achieve your own assault. It would take too long to upgrade your ships with hyperdrive. At sublight speeds, your ships are almost as fast as ours. So the easiest and fastest solution is to tow fifty of your ships to Qo'noS. The _Saber IIIs_ and _Defiant IIIs_ can tow two each, the _Akira IIIs_ and _Armitage_ can handle three each while the _Atrox_ and _Vanquishers_ can handle four each.

The initial assaults will be timed to strike simultaneously. We already have the jamming frequencies you used in the raid we observed on the Dominion shipyards around Earth. If there are no questions, we can begin when your ships are ready."

Chancellor Martok and Admiral Janeway stood at once and started asking the exact same question. After a much needed laugh between the two of them, Martok continued. "I believe my esteemed colleague and I have the same issue. Many of our ships are not battle capable. We have been fighting for months on limited supplies and maintenance. It will be months before we are able to mount any effective campaign with our ships."

Admiral Carter nodded in understanding. "I understand Chancellor. That is why I brought extra engineers and my ship has an internal shipyard. The industrial replicators we have on our ships can literally create ANYTHING from any material. We don't need base replicator stock like your replicators have to use. I can take any asteroid, put it in the recycler, and duranium or anything I want comes out the replicator. The Asgard ships, my _Atrox_ carriers, and the _Blood Debt_ will return to the Nebula with you Chancellor and we will have ALL of your ships battle ready within the week."

Admiral Janeway was visibly taken aback by that statement. "Well Admiral, if you can make good on that promise then let's get started ASAP." Admiral Carter laughed. "Well if that's all then I agree Admiral. Let's get this show on the road." A few minutes later the _Blood Debt_, the three _Atrox_ carriers, and the Asgard attack wing jumped into hyperspace to drop out in a different direction and continue on at warp while cloaked. True to her word, the UEC and Asgard ships had every ship in both the Klingon and Federation fleets battle ready in less than a week.

Chancellor Martok and Admiral Janeway stood watching out a window of the Starbase in total awe. One of the ships from the UEC or the Asgard would pull in between two damaged ships and white, fan like beams would touch each ship on either side of it. Anywhere the beams touched, it seemed the damaged hulls just grew shiny and new again. "I hear those beams can also make fighters or torpedoes vanish as easily as they repair our ships." Admiral Janeway mused quietly.

"Admiral Carter assures me that once the initial assaults are complete and we have the Dominion on their heels, they will begin upgrading an attack wing at a time to their standards. They have already begun the upgrades on the _Sword of Kahless _and the _Ascension_. They will be ready for the assault." Janeway's eyes sprang wide open as did her mouth. "WHAT?! When did they start that?"

Chancellor Martok chuckled. "Admiral Carter personally started that upgrade on the very first day. It would have been finished earlier but she had to completely replace most of the power conduits as ours couldn't handle the massive increase in power that their Neutrino Ion Generators provide. She said there is something else she needs to discuss with us concerning leaving us information on how to build their technology when we have won the war. Can you believe they have that much confidence to say WHEN we have won instead of IF we win?"

Janeway was quiet for a bit. "You saw the power readings on the _Blood Debt_ as well as I did. We couldn't scan through their shields at all until Admiral Carter had them lowered. Then I think several of our computers shorted out trying to calculate the power capacity of that ship." She half joked. "The truly frightening thing came when she told me they were only operating at twenty-five percent! I would truly hate to be on the receiving end of that kind of power and I faced down the Borg in the Delta Quadrant for crying out loud!"

Martok nodded in total agreement. "I have never seen such power projected from a single ship. I was able to visit the Dyson Sphere that Captain Picard found and not even that sphere can match the total power of that one ship. I love a good fight like any self-respecting Klingon but taking on that one ship with even an entire fleet, I would consider suicide. I envy you going into battle with her at your side." The two stood quietly watching their small, rag tag fleet become a true fighting force once again.

At the end of the week, all of the separate fleets were staged and ready to begin liberating captured territories across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Vice Admiral O'Neill had decided to send another small fleet over to act as a rear guard at the Nebula. That fleet consisted of four _Avenger _class battleships, five _Saber IIIs_, and five heavy construction ships.

The construction ships built several LGPS and the upgraded pulse phaser and torpedo turrets. They did not include the Alteran drones or the phase shifting technology from the Tollan. The Federation members that had joined the UEC agreed they would keep some things secret. The Neutrino Ion Reactors, plasma weapons, ion weapons, hyperdrives, and the shielding systems would more than set the Federation and Klingon Empire at the top of the food chain in their reality.

Thor left first with his two attack fleets and they were towing one third of the Federation's remaining fleet. Bajor was the farthest target so to have all of the attacks happen at the same time, Thor had to leave first. He would drop off half of the one third of the Federation forces near Betazed to hide under cloak with one _O'Neill II_ for the assault on Betazed. They would wait for the signal and attack the Dominion holdings there at the same time of the other assaults.

One full company of powered battle armored Marines were aboard the Asgard ship. The new battle armor was the same set-up used in the attack on Anubis but an outer layer made of the same material the Kull armor was made from was integrated into the existing armor.

Admiral Janeway was aboard the _Ascension_ and she was amazed at the massive amount of power the already powerful ship now boasted. By Federation standards, the _Ascension_ was a massive ship but it looked like a shuttle when compared to the _Blood Debt_. She still couldn't believe the speed at which they were traveling. Even towing three _Galaxy II_ refits, the _Ascension_ was traveling through hyperspace at speeds that made even the Borg transwarp drive seem like impulse.

**Sol System, Bajor System, Betazed System**

**And Qo'noS System**

After checking the stealth probe in the asteroid belt in the Sol system, Admiral Carter had changed the plan one more time. She detached her second attack fleet with half of the Federation ships they were towing to the Vulcan and Andoria systems. Stealth probes sent to each of those systems had shown the same thing that was at Betazed, one Jem'Hadar battleship and a wing of five attack ships.

It seemed the Dominion was packing most of their forces around the Bajoran System to keep control of the wormhole. The Sol system had the next largest concentration of ships after Bajor. There were two dreadnaughts, five battleships, and fifty attack ships. It was only about a fifth the size of the forces packed around the rebuilt Deep Space Nine station. Thor was going to have his hands full but it was a battle he was relishing.

As Admiral Carter and her attack fleet were approaching Earth at high warp, she began issuing orders. "I'm feeding targeting coordinates to all ships in the fleet Admiral Janeway. As you can see, the _Blood Debt_ will target the two dreadnaughts and three of the battleships. The remaining two battleships will be your priority. The rest of the attack fighters should be no problem after the major firepower is taken out of the game."

Admiral Janeway was shaking her head at the thought of winning against that high a number of attack ships not to mention five battleships and two dreadnaughts. Disregarding fifty plus Jem'Hadar attack ships as no problem was mind boggling to Janeway as well. She was actually beginning to regret letting Admiral Carter send the entire second wing to Vulcan and Andoria. Any thoughts she had that they had made a mistake, quickly vanished as fast as the five ships the _Blood Debt_ targeted.

The Sol attack fleet led by the _Blood Debt_ dropped out of warp in an overlapping wedge formation with the _Defiant IIIs _on the upper edge and the _Saber IIIs_ below the larger ships and slightly to the front. It was still the _Blood Debt_ that was able to draw first blood. The four spinal mounted rail guns targeted the two dreadnaughts while the six spinal mounted plasma cannons targeted the three battleships. The tri-barrel plasma repeater cannons targeted the smaller attack ships.

"My God….." Was all Janeway could say as anything the massive super dreadnaught's weapons touched simply vanished in an expanding fireball. Even the Dominion's most feared ships, the dreadnaughts, couldn't stand up to the twenty ton hyper dense trinium/naquadah slugs traveling at just over half the speed of light. The four slugs slammed into the bow shields of both ships and completely overloaded them before punching all the way through both ships and triggering the auto recall beaming system to break them down into molecules then transfer those molecules into the replicator buffer to be remade and fired again if needed.

The spinal mounted plasma cannon were the same style as the ones on the Asgard ships. These six cannon fired six plasma "slugs" at the three battleships that overwhelmed the shields with the hyper velocity "slugs" before the plasma containment field broke down, releasing the plasma charge into the hull of the battleships. As the fleet had bypassed Mars, the _Blood Debt_ beamed one thousand battle armor equipped Marines to the surface. The liberation of Mars had begun.

From just the first volley of the _Blood Debt, _two dreadnaughts, three battleships, and thirty of the attack ships simply ceased to exist. Admiral Janeway stood on the bridge of the _Ascension_ as she had hundreds of times on the _Voyager_ it had felt like. She had given the order to fire the instant they dropped out of warp as Admiral Carter had already given them the coordinates and their weapons were locked on target already. The quad plasma beams targeted two per ship, simply shredded the two battleships despite their shields being at full power.

The upper layer of _Defiant IIIs_ and the lower layer of the _Saber IIIs_ weren't going to be denied their taste of battle as they both surged forward and tore into the remaining attack ships with a vengeance. The remaining Federation ships were right beside them getting their punches in as well. Three minutes from the first shot being fired, the battle for space superiority in the Sol system was over. It was time to land the Marines from the _Iwo Jima III_ and retake the planet.

The armor units the UEC had first used against Apophis during their capture and conquering of his homeworld had changed somewhat since that first battle. None of the vehicles used tracks or wheels anymore. All of them rode on a cushion of air, however the artillery did lower itself to the ground for stabilization.

The _Vanguard_ Phaser tanks now boasted twin pulse phaser cannons of the same design as the pulse phasers on the _Defiant_ class but with longer barrels. The _Brigadoon_ Infantry Fighting Vehicles now had quad mounted plasma repeaters that could be fired manually or by a limited AI (Artificial Intelligence) designed by Doctors Felger and Coombs.

As a matter of fact all of the UEC vehicles or ships had this AI. It wasn't self-aware but like the AI's in most modern video games, it could learn with experience. O'Neill and Thor were both against an AI that was self-aware. They didn't feel like having a repeat of the Replicators and both Moros and Ganos agreed after their earlier experience with the Asurans.

The _Avenger_ Class anti-air vehicles were virtually unchanged except they, like all UEC ground vehicles, were now equipped with a Mark IV micro-Naquadah reactor that generated nearly as much power as the original _Saber_ class warp core.

The _Bridger_ class photon artillery had been supplemented with the new _Puller_ class drone artillery named after Marine Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller. The _Puller_ class artillery was an extremely versatile weapon of war. It could target just about anything on land, in the air, and in orbit. Every Marine platoon also had a heavy weapons squad and each member of the squad was clad in _Marauder_ class battle armor. The Jem'Hadar were notoriously known for being utterly fearless in battle but they were in for a very rude awakening against the UEC's ground forces.

The Jem'Hadar were different than most conventional forces as they only kept a small garrison inside of cities. The majority of their troops were in isolated areas to better protect themselves from insurgencies. Transporter technology had made moving to anywhere on a planet possible in just a few seconds. It played right into the UEC plans as they had plenty of room to land the _Iwo Jima_ assault ships away from populated areas. It also allowed for orbital bombardment, strafing, and bombing runs without massive collateral damage.

Ayiana and her team had upgraded an old design of the Alteran Bomber (now dubbed the _Vanguard_) that the Goa'uld used to design their Al'kesh after. The Al'kesh did not look like the Alteran design but it did use the reverse engineered weapons. The Alteran plasma emitters that created the plasma bombs were much more powerful than the reverse engineered ones as was all of the Alteran technology the Goa'uld tried to copy.

The _Vanguard_ was also equipped with quad drone launchers that were now loaded with the upgraded quantum drones the UEC now employed. In looks the _Vanguard_ had a main fuselage that looked very similar to the _Aurora_ but was flatter with stubby wings protruding to each side. The drone launchers were at the far ends of the wings. The bomber also had twin pulse cannons mounted to either side of the nose in place of two of the original drone launchers with four smaller pulse cannon turrets on pivots with rotating ball mounts. The original heavy bomb bays were no longer there and had been replaced by a larger shield generator and a down sized neutrino ion reactor.

On Earth there were three different large Dominion bases. The largest was in the Nevada desert near where Area 51 used to be, another was in Siberia, while the third was on the African Savanna. Three flights of _Vanguard_ bombers moved into the atmosphere and approached each base, intent on destroying the air defense networks protecting the bases. A squadron of _Vampire_ fighters accompanied each flight of bombers. Close behind the flight coming in over Nevada was the _Iwo Jima III_ itself. The latest iteration of the _Iwo Jima_ now carried a full division of troops and their vehicles. The new TO&amp;E for a Marine Combat Division was a full four Brigades. One Brigade each was assigned to the base in Africa and Siberia while two Brigades landed with the _Iwo Jima III_ near the base in Nevada after the bombers eliminated the air defenses.

It was a bad day overall for the Dominion in the Sol system. During the ground assaults, Starfleet troops were mixed in among the UEC Marines so people knew this was a liberation force and not another invasion by a new enemy. Even shrouded Jem'Hadar found they were not invisible to the Alteran and Asgard sensors installed in UEC vehicles and battle armor.

As the _Iwo Jima III_ landed, large ramps opened from several areas under the belly of the massive assault ship. The two Brigades separated into fast moving armor and infantry fighting vehicle columns. Each Brigade consisted of two armor battalions, two mechanized Infantry battalions, one artillery battalion, one air defense artillery battalion, and one support battalion. One Brigade split to the left while the other split off to the right with each sending one Infantry battalion to fully bypass the base and swing around in a pincer maneuver. Two armor battalions pushed in from each side as well while the artillery stayed in place for fire support and the other Infantry battalions pushed forward to pin the Jem'Hadar against the anvil of their fellow Infantry battalions.

This "Hammer and Anvil" maneuver was utilized against all of the Jem'Hadar bases no matter what planet they were on. Complete dominance of the air and orbit assisted in keeping the Jem'Hadar from making a run to escape the pincer maneuvers. The only door to door fighting was inside some of the cities where smaller garrisons acted as the police force for the city. Individual platoons were beamed to larger cities as the bases were crushed. Heavy jamming prevented both transporter movement of the Jem'Hadar and communications between them as well.

Admiral Janeway had beamed aboard the _Iwo Jima III_ and stood beside General Tommy Brooks watching the battle unfold on the holographic plotting table. "General, I am impressed by your people's precision and speed. Starfleet has fought land battles before with the Cardassians and the Dominion in the early stages of this war. But the speed with which your units move is astonishing."

General Brooks just grunted but never took his eyes off of the battle. "Our ground forces are made up of members from all across the UEC. A lot like your Starfleet is made up from member worlds of the Federation. We've trained for months on Avalon in hopes of being able to test our skills against the Ori or the Goa'uld or someone. A good portion of my best men have deployed to the Middle East multiple times and several even fought in Desert Storm."

Admiral Janeway was a bit taken aback. "Did you just say Desert Storm? That was over four hundred years ago for us! What year is it on your Earth?" General Brooks kept watching the battle. "It's 2014 on our Earth. I was confused about this too until Doctor Jackson, Ayiana, and Ganos explained that it had something to do with eight hundred years of technological suppression during the Dark Ages. I'm still not sure what they meant or how it effects the difference in our timelines."

Janeway was about to ask more questions when a voice came in over her borrowed earpiece. "General Brooks this is Colonel Tucker. It looks like we're done with the main base. The last of the Jem'Hadar have been taken out. I make the time at just over one hour and four minutes." General Brooks looked at the stopwatch on the corner of the holographic display. "I concur, one hour and four minutes. Good job Colonel, now start sending platoons to liberate the cities. Send Alpha Company to San Francisco and clear all of the Jem'Hadar out of what's left of Starfleet Headquarters."

A few seconds later the reply came back. "Roger Sir, I have issued the appropriate orders and troops are in route." The holographic display showed the orders Colonel Tucker issued over his tactical computer (TacComp) in his battle armor. Also on the bottom corner of the holodisplay was casualty numbers. Admiral Janeway silently read through them.

"General, are those casualty reports accurate? They only show one KIA and twenty-two wounded?" Brooks looked over them before answering. "Yes Admiral, those numbers are accurate. The one KIA was a pilot that was killed when a Jem'Hadar attack ship made a kamikaze run on a bomber and the pilot of a _Vampire_ fighter sacrificed his plane to save the bomber and its crew. The wounded are mostly concussions and bruises from the wreckage of the attack ship and fighter crashing into a dismounted platoon."

Admiral Janeway stared at the General in total shock. "You're telling me that a Jem'Hadar attack ship and the wreckage of one of your fighters fell on a platoon and all they had was twenty-two wounded with bruises and concussions?" General Brooks laughed. "Our battle armor is a tough nut to crack Admiral. Most of the platoon was able to jump out of the way before the crash actually landed on them." He couldn't help but laugh at Janeway's expression. "We didn't get all of our technology from the Federation Admiral. Some of it came from the Asgard; some came from the Alterans or Ancients if you will, and some we invented ourselves. Ayiana and Ganos are Alterans or Ancients. I believe you called them the Preservers or maybe the Iconians in this reality."

"The Alterans not only thrived in the Milky Way Galaxy, they colonized the Pegasus galaxy until a species called Wraith defeated them and forced them to flee back to Earth. They had spread to this reality as well and built stargates across your galaxy that were somehow different from the ones in my reality, until again they were forced into hiding around 200,000 years ago when their homeworld was destroyed by orbital bombardment. It was from the dig on Dozaria III that your Dr. Jackson found fragments of one of their gates. If you want the whole story, you'll have to ask Ayiana or Ganos. I only heard part of their conversation with Admiral Carter when they were explaining their attempt to colonize this reality."

Admiral Janeway thought it over and decided she would have a talk with the two Alterans when she had the chance. Over the next couple of hours reports came in from all over the world. The Jem'Hadar were being slaughtered by the UEC troops. Federation forces, just as during the initial invasion by the Jem'Hadar, weren't doing so well. The Federation ground troops had not worn UEC battle armor and as such were not as well protected. Their personal shields weren't nearly as effective as the UEC armor protected by shields. The laminated outer layer of Kull armor served to negate even the phased polaron beams if the armor's shields were somehow depleted. The Kull armor would not be part of the technology package given to the Federation though. Now that the UEC had figured out how to duplicate it, the armor was a closely guarded secret.

**Bajoran System**

Simultaneous to the assault on the Dominion forces all across Federation and Klingon territory, Thor and his task force dropped out of hyperspace within spitting distance of Deep Space Nine and the Dominion fleet protecting the wormhole. Thor had timed his hyperspace jump to coincide with the Starfleet ships coming out of warp. One of the _Saber IIIs _and one of the _Defiant IIIs_ dropped out of hyperspace INSIDE of DS-9's shield. Both ships immediately opened fire with precision shots from their multi-directional phaser arrays to disable shields and weapons alike. They both also beamed several squads of Marines to include Captain Sisko onto the station before joining the fight against the Dominion fleet. As the shield dropped, an Asgard _Daniel Jackson_ swept over the station beaming Jem'Hadar out into space. The ship then came to a dead stop just above the tips of the upper pylons and extended its shields around the station.

With the station now out of the fight and protected from counter-assault, the fight quickly turned against the Jem'Hadar. Thor plunged the _Well of Urd_ deep into the heart of the enemy formation and opened fire with every weapon at his disposal. To the Federation ships present for the assault, what Thor had done reminded them of the movie The Last Starfighter. Thor's ship looked like it was performing the Death Blossom maneuver as everything its weapons touched simply vanished in a fireball. The firepower of the UEC ships actually scared the crews of the Starfleet ships. They had fought the Dominion for several years and knew how hard it was to destroy a Jem'Hadar battlecruiser, battleship, or dreadnaught. Yet the Asgard ships and the UEC dreadnaughts could destroy several with one volley. The _Saber IIIs _and _Defiant IIIs_ were more powerful than the standard Federation _Sovereign_ class. The small UEC ships had formed up in wolfpacks and were viciously destroying anything that crossed their path.

This day would be a day that went down into history as one of the best in Federation/Klingon history and the beginning of the downfall of the Dominion. With the technology the UEC would be giving the Federation and the Klingon Empire, they would build a fleet of advanced starships and hunt the Dominion in the Gama Quadrant. They would not hunt them to extinction but they would force them into capitulation at the end of a plasma cannon. But first, there was still the Cardassian Union and the Breen Confederacy to deal with. During the assaults, not one single Jem'Hadar survived. Several tried to go to warp but the UEC had deployed an experimental version of their hyperspace disrupters that could keep a ship from forming the warp bubble that allowed a vessel to travel at warp speed.

The fighting on the station lasted longer than the fight in space around it. The Jem'Hadar ships simply could not compete with the firepower and shields of the Asgard and UEC ships. Several of the attack ships tried kamikaze attacks that had been so successful against the Federation and Klingons. The few that made it passed the CIWS of the ships were like a bug hitting the windshield of a car running seventy-five miles an hour. Once the ships in space were dealt with, the _Iwo Jima III _class _Guadalcanal _moved in to land troops on Bajor.

This was the second invasion Bajor had endured in the last fifty years. This one was much worse than the Cardassian occupation as the Jem'Hadar were void of much of the normal emotions except ferocity. But as it had been on Earth, Mars, Vulcan, Andoria, Betazed, and other occupied worlds, the Jem'Hadar were no match for the Military might of the UEC ground and space forces.

Once the captured systems had been liberated, the heavy construction ships moved out of the Vodrey Nebula and began constructing starbases and defensive turrets throughout the newly freed systems. UEC ships now patrolled the borders of the Cardassian Union and the Breen Confederacy while phase three of the operation was planned. Any Cardassian, Dominion, or Breen ships that approached the border were chased down and destroyed with extreme prejudice.

Admiral Carter arrived at Deep Space Nine the next day with the majority of her taskforce. One _Vanquisher_ class dreadnaught was left at Earth, Vulcan, and Qo'noS while their defenses were rebuilt. It didn't take long for the gathered leaders to decide on how to proceed with the campaign to eliminate the Dominion threat in the Alpha and Beta quadrants.

Attack wings consisting of Federation _Defiants_, UEC _Defiant IIIs_, and Klingon _B'rel _Bird of Preys began combined raids to destroy Dominion shipyards, Jem'Hadar cloning facilities, and ketracel-white manufacturing/storage facilities. The Federation and Klingon ships did not participate until AFTER they were upgraded by the _Blood Debt_ and new shipyards built by the UEC in their respective systems.

The first shipyards hit were the ones at Torros III. Ten UEC _Defiant IIIs_ led by Captain Sisko in the upgraded USS _Defiant_ dropped out of hyperspace on top of the Jem'Hadar defenders and annihilated everything in the system.

With the additional hyperdrive technology, shielding systems, and manufacturing technology given to the Federation and the Klingon Empire, the war had definitely turned tides. All of the captured territories in the Federation and Klingon Empire had been retaken and now the push was on to destroy the Dominion assets in Cardassian and Breen space.

Two final assaults were in motion to end the war in the Alpha Quadrant once and for all. One was on the Breen homeworld and the second target was Cardassia Prime. To that end, Admiral Janeway asked Admiral Carter to have the briefing aboard the _Blood Debt_ in one the holosuites.

"It seems the majority of the remaining remnants of the Dominion fleet have congregated at Cardassia Prime. They have left a token force at the Breen homeworld. In response to that move, we will also be concentrating the majority of our forces in the attack on Cardassia Prime. Half of attack fleet five will accompany ten Federation and ten Klingon ships in the attack on the Breen homeworld. Once orbital supremacy is achieved, the _Guadalcanal _will land troops with support from the ships in the system. Each ship of our fleet carries a certain number of _Vampire_ fighters while the _Atrox_ carrier carries both the _Vampire_ fighters and _Stalker_ class stealth fighters backed by the modified _Vanguard _class Alteran bombers."

She paused and took a deep breath. "The attack on Cardassia Prime will be carried out simultaneously with three of our remaining attack fleets alongside the fleets the Federation and Klingons can spare from defense duty. We will be leaving attack fleet four and the second half of attack fleet five to assist in defending Federation and Klingon territories in the event of a counter attack by Dominion forces. I personally see no problem in our assured victory in this region of space. The real test will follow for both the Federation and the Klingon Empire after the battle here is won."

She looked around the room at the gathered commanders of the two factions she had just mentioned. "We came to this reality to repay a debt to both the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Through efforts of both governments, you saved not only our galaxy but several others that we have significant influence with. It will be up to the two of your respective governments on how to carry on the war that we all know has to be fought in the Gamma quadrant. It won't be a cake walk but the technology we have gifted to you should more than tip the scales in your favor. We had to adjust the technology to work with your warp technology as there is absolutely zero naquadah in this galaxy." She took a breath again.

"Ok, now that I've gotten that out, let's get on with the attack plans. We have upgraded every Federation and Klingon ship with hyperdrives and hull hugging shields. Even with that fact, your shields will not come close to matching the strength of our shields so our ships will be the spearhead of the main attack. Both flanking attacks will be led by the _Sword of Kahless_ leading the Klingon forces and the _Ascension_ leading the Federation forces. Instead of a four sided attack, I have decided to use a three sided equilateral triangle. My forces will form the base of the triangle and force the Dominion forces as far into the "top" of the triangle as we can. This will force them into a tight crossfire that will allow for maximum destruction. Are there any questions?"

No one said anything so she ended the briefing with a timeline. "Admiral Janeway and Chancellor Martok, your fleets will depart in fifteen minutes while we will follow in ten minutes but we will cloak and approach most of the way at warp. This should give each of you plenty of time to get set up then we will jump in and slam the door in their face. I have no doubt you will be detected getting into position. That is why I want to leave later so it gives the Dominion forces a false sense of security. They will see your forces on either side and think we left a window for them to escape. I plan on crushing that thought in the most violent way."

Chancellor Martok laughed a huge Klingon belly laughed. "Admiral, if I didn't know any better, I would swear you have a Klingon soul! That move will crush any sense of superiority the Dominion may hold. It's ruthless, actually it's positively Klingon!" With that the designated crews returned to their ships to begin final preparations.

Admiral Carter turned and signaled Captain Lucatero and Captain Mitchell to join her. "Ok, I don't want them to know how fast our hyperdrives really are. That is the reason I want to travel most of the way at warp. It will also provide the illusion we left an escape route. We will leave in a few minutes at warp and under cloak. In the meantime, I want both of you to go with and stick with the two task forces. I will let Admiral Janeway and Chancellor Martok know you will be with them to provide advanced Intel for them. In reality, I want your extra firepower as back-up in case the Dominion makes a move before each fleet is in position."

Both commanders nodded, saluted their Commanding Officer, and beamed to their ships. The two fleets turned away from Deep Space Nine and jumped into hyperspace. A few minutes later, the UEC task force cloaked and jumped to warp as well.

**Cardassia Prime**

Just as Sam had predicted, the Dominion forces detected both the Klingon and Federation fleets getting into position. They also sent several attack ships to each fleet to try and throw off their timing of getting the blocks in place.

That is the reason she had sent the _Phantom_ and the _Shadow_ with a fleet. As the attack ships closed in, none of them were able to detect the UEC stealth cruisers until they decloaked and opened fire on the unprepared Jem'Hadar ships. AZPM enhanced phasers speared the two end ships in the line. The beams started as a red ball of light at the back of each multi-directional phaser strip on either side of the saucer. It then traveled down the strip building power until it erupted from the end of the strip to impale a separate attack ship.

With the additional power boost the AZPM gave the phaser emitters, each attack ship lost shields as the beam slammed into them before continuing to burrow through the hull and burst out the other side of the ship. As the two ships on the far flank exploded, a spread of quantum drones spewed from the launchers and shredded the remaining eight attack ships facing Captain Mitchell and the UEC _Shadow_. Captain Lucatero had similar results but destroyed four with phasers and six with drones. The _Phantom_ had been upgraded with dual mounted pulse phaser cannons in addition to the phaser array strips.

Weyoun stood on the bridge of the command dreadnaught wallowing in self-pity. "Oh this is not good, not good at all. Those UEC cruisers are more deadly than anything I have ever seen. Where are the rest of their ships? How did we come to this? First, signal the fleet to jump to warp and head for the wormhole!" Little did he know that the _Katana _had crept into the system under cloak and saturated the entire area with subspace disrupters tuned to jam Dominion warp drives.

"I cannot Weyoun. There is some kind of interference that is preventing us from forming a warp bubble. The interference is also disrupting all communications." Weyoun's face went even more pale than normal. "Oh Founders help us, it's a trap. First, go to full impulse out of the system. Get us out of here. Use the running lights to signal the rest of the fleet to scatter and follow us out!"

It was too late. As the remnants of the Dominion fleet on this side of the wormhole surged forward, the UEC task force decloaked and opened fire. Weyoun never got the chance to give any more orders as the command dreadnaught was targeted by the UEC _Blood Debt_. The heavy rail gun rounds slammed into the shields, completely collapsing them before punching all the way through the ship to strike and kill another dreadnaught and a battlecruiser. The Dominion fleet broke and turned away from the deadly UEC ships only to find themselves caught in a pincher between the Federation and Klingon fleets.

As the UEC task force pushed forward, the Klingon, and Federation fleets closed in from the flanks. It was a complete slaughter as the smaller of the UEC ships dove in and around the Dominion fleet, destroying anything that got close to them.

The battle went extremely well for the UEC though the Klingons lost twenty-three out of seventy ships and the Federation lost thirty-eight out of seventy-five. Even upgraded with stronger shields and weapons, the old _Miranda _and _Soyuz_ class ships were still no match for a Dominion battlecruiser or a wolfpack of attack ships. They were cheap and fast to build but lacked the power needed for modern space combat. But space superiority was achieved and the _Iwo Jima IIIs_ moved into the atmosphere to begin landing troops.

Ahead of the Marine Assault ships were hundreds of _Vampire_ and _Stalker_ fighters and _Vanguard_ bombers. Several Jem'Hadar fighters rose from the surface to try and interdict the landing ships. The _Vanguards _held back as the _Vampires _and _Stalkers_ swarmed the attack ships making short work of the Jem'Hadar ships. Several heavy cannons opened fire from the surface causing the UEC fighters to scatter. This is the area where the_ Vanguard_ would shine. Possessing Alteran shields powered by the AZPM and a heavier mass than the fighters, the bombers plowed forward like an old school boxer shrugging of blow after blow before delivering their own knockout punch.

Very few drones were fired by the bombers as the AZPM enhanced pulse cannons tore heavy weapons emplacements and heavy weapons vehicles to shreds. Once the ground weapons and fighters were destroyed, the _Vanguards_ pulled out of the atmosphere and the _Vampires _and _Stalkers_ stayed on station to protect the landing assault ships. Several companies had been beamed down as an Advon to secure the designated landing zones. The fighting was fierce and brutal until the Cardassian citizens began to realize that the UEC troops were going out of their way to avoid collateral damage or civilian casualties.

Two hours into the battle, the Cardassians turned on their Jem'Hadar allies and began to slaughter them when they could. Several Jem'Hadar and Vorta went down quickly in the initial volley when the Cardassians turned on them. After they realized their allies had turned against them, the Jem'Hadar began killing civilians indiscriminately. The battle devolved into isolated pockets of Jem'Hadar holding Cardassian hostages.

Admiral Carter watched the battle unfold on the holographic display. She saw what the Jem'Hadar began doing. "Helm, move us into low orbit. Sensors, feed your data directly to the transporter room. Transporter room, lock onto all the Jem'Hadar holding hostages and beam them into the lower atmosphere. I think 20,000 feet should be high enough." She heard a chuckle over the comsystem. "Yes Ma'am, locking on now, and transporting."

With that the remaining Jem'Hadar holdouts were beamed 20,000 feet above the Cardassian desert. The transporter chief had decided he didn't want to be responsible for a Jem'Hadar soldier dropping onto someone's head.

**Cardassian Central Command Headquarters**

**Capital City**

**Cardassia Prime**

Captain Sisko followed Admiral Janeway as they entered Central Command Headquarters. When they reached the central control room buried deep under the facility, Sisko couldn't help but crack up laughing at the sight that greeted them. Gul Dukat was lying on his belly and literally hog tied. Behind Sisko and Janeway was the head of the Civilian Detapa Council. Gul Dukat sneered. "I'm glad you are enjoying yourself Benjamin. If it weren't for your friends here, your precious Federation and the Klingon Empire would have faded away. The only reason you were able to defeat us was their superior technology."

The Council Leader stepped forward. "Gul Dukat, you are under arrest for crimes against the Cardassian people. The Federation and the Klingons have waived their right to try you under their laws. You will be tried by the very people you betrayed to the Dominion. Although I would have loved to see how you handled life imprisonment on Rura Penthe. Your trial will begin at 0800 hours tomorrow morning. I expect your execution will follow soon after."

As Dukat was carried off, he could be heard begging Captain Sisko not to let it happen. "Ben, don't let them do this! I only did what I did to protect Cardassia! She was foremost in my mind! I want to be tried under Federation Law!"

Sisko laughed at him. "Dukat, I would rather you rotted on Rura Penthe as well. If it were up to me, I would take you outside and shoot you myself right now. You will stay here and be tried on your homeworld by your people. Oh and don't worry, I will be there when they execute you tomorrow."

The trial didn't last long and Gul Dukat, several captured Vorta, a few Jem'Hadar, and many Cardassian Soldiers were tried and found guilty of war crimes against the Cardassian people. None of the accused were actually present on the planet. They were tried and convicted via coms to the disabled freighter they were placed on that was in orbit of the planet. As the verdict was given, a Cardassian _Galor_ class warship (repaired by the _Blood Debt_) towed the freighter away from the planet and released it into the Cardassian sun. The warp core had been removed so it was basically just a hollow metal tube filled with prisoners that burned very quickly when subjected to the heat of a star.

Captain Sisko stood on the bridge of the _Blood Debt_ with Commander Dax, Major Kira, Admirals Carter and Janeway, Ayiana, and Ganos Lal and watched the freighter burn. "Well, that closes that chapter. Now to rebuild and go after the Dominion on their turf." Sisko said as he turned to Admiral Carter. "Thank you Admiral, without your help, we would not have lasted much longer. Now we are stronger than we have been in years and have the chance to end this war once and for all."

Carter looked not only Captain Sisko but Admiral Janeway as well right in the eye. "We were only repaying the debt that we owed you for saving our reality. The technology we have given you isn't the best we have but it has opened the eyes of your scientists to the possibility of such technology. I feel fairly safe in saying you will learn from what we have given you and build better versions in the future. We felt that it would still give you the advantage you needed to win the war but allow you to grow and mature by building on what you were given."

"We did the same thing after we began exploring our galaxy through the stargate. We made some enemies and we made some friends. If your people hadn't brought your technology to us first, we would not have been able to return the favor. Your desperate decision to ignore your Prime Directive and help us, helped you twice. We are grateful and hope you use what you were given to avoid having to make those types of decisions in the future." Ayiana interjected with a knowing look at Admiral Janeway."

With that, everyone said their goodbyes and the UEC Taskforce opened dimensional rifts back to their home reality.


	12. Chapter 12

Ok, Chapter one of the follow-up for Desperate Decisions is finally complete and posted. I am going with the title of Assuming the Mantle for this story. I hope you enjoy and remember, please leave a review and let me know what you think. Again, sorry it took me so long.


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